When in Whitmore
by leeleepupu
Summary: AU/AH College. She had heard a lot about Klaus Mikaelson. And nothing good. She had planned on avoiding him but after he beat up Stefan she found herself at his doorstep to scream at him when things take an unexpected turn.
1. Chapter 1

Caroline wasn't sure about Klaus when she first met him. In another life she knew he was capable of terrible things and still have people love him. Caroline would watch him secretly. Through stolen glances and hurried looks. She had avoided him since she had first met him at a party, and he had shown interest in her. It was ironic that for someone who was avoiding him like the plague she was outside his and Marcel's apartment to tell him off and ask him what the hell he thought of himself beating up Stefan like that.

It was that or Damon coming here and whooping Klaus's ass—or getting his ass whooped, Caroline wasn't sure—but everyone agreed that before things got worse someone needed to speak to Klaus and since it was well known that, as Bonnie and Elena put it, Klaus was 'sweet on her' Caroline would go. Anyone else would be a disaster. While Caroline initially protested, she relented because the last few times she had run into Klaus things hadn't been that bad. They had become...almost...reluctant friends. But, of course, that could last only for two seconds before Klaus ruined it. Of course.

"Come to lecture me, love?" Klaus smirked bitterly, his eyes cutting into Caroline's. She only gave him a look of pure disgust. "How did you even get in?" he asked.

"The door was open."

"And here I thought Marcel might have come home," Klaus said. "He hasn't been to the flat in quite some time," he suddenly looked thoughtful. Caroline rolled her eyes at his distraction tactics.

"You know what you are?"

"I have a feeling you're going to inform me nevertheless—," Klaus began smugly as he took a step towards. Caroline didn't wait for him to finish his sentence, cutting him off in the middle, "you're just another spoilt rich white brat of a boy, who's got the whole world at his feet and is intent on destroying it just for shits and gags."

Klaus stopped to stand in front of Caroline, all traces of humor gone from his face. A harsh bitterness setting in, icing his features. Caroline didn't even flinch when he towered over her.

"You're making assumptions," he whispered dangerously.

"Yeah, I don't think so? What is it, mommy issues? Daddy issues?" Caroline asked sarcastically. When she saw his jaw twitch and eyes dart to the floor at the mention of mommy-daddy problems she added for good measure, "both?"

When Klaus continued to glare at her, Caroline continued, "Well, you know what I don't really care. Because we _all _have problems. We _all _want to burn the world sometimes, Klaus," she threw her hands up in frustration, as she took a step back to put some distance between them. Klaus gave her a look of curiosity and surprise she did not miss. She licked her lips nervously. She wanted to get him to stop his downward spiral, not make this about her, or worse—make him more curious about her than he already was. "But we all deal with it!" she said, emphasizing each word as she turned away from him. She hadn't really looked at his room before. Seeing as this was the first time she had come here.

He had a really good flat, didn't he? Caroline thought as her eyes scanned the bed spread and the laptop, the speakers, the TV—all from top brands. She felt a sneer come over her. Did he even realize what douche he was? To have everything he did and even then, be so ungrateful and fall apart like he did?

"It must be nice, to have so much," Caroline said, turning around. A small gasp left her mouth as came face to face with Klaus. He had closed the distance between them while her back was turned. Snake, she thought, annoyed. She took a step back to have her back brush up edge of a chair. The desk was directly behind her. She was wedged between Klaus and the desk.

"It's not bad," Klaus admitted, a different kind of energy around them now. Okay, she had not come here for this. She had come here to lecture Klaus about Stefan and—she ignored the way her heart stuttered as Klaus leaned closer, his cool breath fanning her face when he said, "But I find myself still wanting..." Klaus's voice trailed off as he leaned closer.

"No! We're not going to _kiss_," Caroline said, exasperated, eyes wide, pushing him away. "You're infuriating."

Klaus pursed his lips. "What are you even doing here, Caroline? Did you appoint yourself as Stefan's messiah?"

"Well, everyone else thought it would be best if I came to speak with you." Considering that Damon was two seconds away from knocking down Klaus's door and starting another fight. She didn't tell Klaus that. She knew it would only rile him up and start a bigger fight.

"And so, they elected you to go meet someone alone whom they consider unstable and dangerous?" Klaus asked, raising his eyebrows. "I'm not sure I hold your friends in very high esteem."

"Unstable and dangerous? Accurate description, but I don't think you hold yourself in very high esteem either, so...," Caroline trailed off, her lips pursed into a teasing line, as her eyes glided across the room again. Klaus did not miss the teasing, seeing as there was an upward quirk to his lips. He leaned back, with his forearms supporting his weight—Caroline wondered if he was going to lie down, but a jolt of surprise went through her when she felt her chair move.

Klaus had wound his long legs along the leg of the chair to drag her forward to himself. Caroline did not pretend she didn't feel a stab of excitement and adrenaline go through her. She felt ...alive.

"And do _you _think I'm unstable and dangerous?"

"Yes," Caroline breathed as Klaus sat upright, leaning towards her, now.

"Is that right?" Klaus was smiling at her. Not smirking, actually smiling.

"What are you smiling about?"

"What are _you _smiling about?" She hadn't even realized she had been smiling. She stopped.

"I think this is the first normal conversation we have had," Caroline said, pulling her legs up to sit in a cross-legged position.

"Yes, well, if I knew it only took to beat up Stefan, I would have done it a long time ago," Klaus teased. Caroline, who had been enjoying the light banter between them suddenly felt a darkness fall over her and her heart hurt.

This was not normal; this was not a normal conversation either. At Klaus's words she was reminded of why she had come here in the first place. She pursed her lips, disapproving of the fact that Klaus that it was okay to hit Stefan. He was really hurt. He would live, but still.

As if only realizing the change in Caroline's mood, Klaus's face also turned somber. "That's not funny, Klaus," Caroline said. When she tried to pull the chair back to get up, Klaus's legs held it tightly in place, making it impossible for her to move. She gave him a look of frustration.

"I'm—," Klaus began, but stopped, as if something had choked him. "I shall speak to Stefan about this. I didn't mean to...do what I did."

"And for the record, your friend Stefan isn't a bunny. He threw in some punches too. It was an even match," Klaus said, pointing out the wounds on his face, and lifting up his shirt to show Caroline the bruises on his stomach. Caroline only rolled her eyes.

"I'll light a candle for ya," she said. Caroline remembered the gashes on Stefan's face and the wounds on his body. She was again reminded of how angry Damon had been—something that always left her anxious for hours and days on, because it reminded her of when they were together.

Caroline snapped back to the present when Klaus said, "hey." He looked concerned. "Worried about Stefan?" Klaus asked, the twinge of jealousy apparent in his voice. Caroline cocked her head to the side and let a soft smile come to her face.

"Nah, he'll live." As soon as she said the words, she clapped a hand to her mouth in shock. She didn't mean to say it. Not to _Klaus _of all people. He only gave her a smirk.

"He is in good hands," she said, and was immediately struck by how Stefan had his brother and all of their friends hovering over him, nagging him, taking care of him, but Klaus was here...alone. She tried not to feel too bad for him but failed. He was a douche bag. He deserved to be...Her thoughts vanished when she saw how Klaus was looking at her again.

Caroline's phone rang forcing them to look away. It was Elena.

"Hey," Caroline said into the phone. Klaus watched her curiously. She looked away from his gaze to look at the carpet. It looked nice. How come she hadn't noticed it all this while? How did he manage to keep it so clean? Hm.

"Hey, everything okay over there?" Elena's voice distracted her line of thought.

"Yes," she answered quickly, maybe too quickly, because there was pause on the other end of the line.

"O-kay?" Elena sounded suspicious. Damnit. All of these months of denying there was anything between Klaus and herself, today was not working in her favour.

"How's Stefan?" Caroline asked instead. She heard Elena sigh heavily into the phone and felt herself flinch at the noise. Elena was a serial sigh-er. But she'd get mad at Caroline for pointing it out so she just made it a point to always hold the phone away from her ear when Elena was in one of her sighing moods. And today was definitely one of those days.

"He's fine." Caroline pulled the phone away from her ear. Klaus shot her a questioning look. She gave him a quick smile and held up a finger. Elena sighed heavily into the phone making both Klaus and Caroline flinch. Caroline waved a palm, as if to say, _I know_. They shared a secret smile between themselves.

"That's good to know," Caroline said, placing the phone back against her ear.

"Well, yes, but—," Elena broke off, and Caroline immediately pulled away from the phone making Klaus laugh. Elena had finished sighing and whatever she was about to say seemed to have vanished from her line of thought for she only asked, sounding very suspicious, "what was that?"

"Nothing!" Caroline said her voice perhaps too chirpy for her own good. "I'm glad to hear Stefan is doing well, but I'll see you later, yeah? Text me," Caroline said and immediately hung up before Elena could protest. She shot a look of exasperation towards Klaus.

"Sorry, love," he said. "But it was funny, you must admit."

Caroline rolled her eyes but smiled. "I know. Elena's a serial sigher." Klaus smiled and Caroline smiled with him. His face suddenly turned somber.

"It's getting late, your friends are worried. Maybe you should go," Klaus said, and Caroline was going to agree with him, and doesn't know what made her say what she does, but she says it, and she doesn't regret it. Not entirely. Not right now, at least.

"Nah, it's cool. I can hangout for a bit," she said, surprising herself, _and _Klaus, whose eyes widened comically, and it looked like he was struggling to say something. Caroline thought it was endearing. Nope. Scratch that. She did _not_just think that Klaus was endearing. Klaus was _not _endearing. "Maybe we should clean you up a bit...," Caroline said just because she wanted to change the topic, distract herself from thinking Klaus was endearing—because, no way in hell, did she just think that—but she soon comes to regret her words because Klaus's idea of cleaning up was getting naked.

Well, half-naked, because he just shed his shirt, but still. It was too much skin, and chest and muscles and tattoos—was that a bird? And was that feather? And what were those necklaces? Caroline forced herself to look away. _Dangerous territory, dangerous territory_, she mentally chanted but oh well, she was excited, and she knew there was no way in hell she was not going to peek another look at him.

"Well?" Klaus said, standing half-naked in all of his glory, looking incredibly smug. Caroline would punch him if there wasn't a blush creeping up her neck. He _knew _he was good looking. Ugh. Caroline narrowed her eyes, suspicious. "I thought you wanted to clean me up." Caroline's jaw dropped at the obvious sexual innuendo.

"I said _we_—," Caroline began but stopped immediately realizing she was only making it worse. "Oh, just shut up and go already," Caroline said, gesturing to the bathroom. Klaus did a fake pompous bow before he went to the bathroom. Caroline followed him.

"Where's your first-aid?"

Klaus pointed to one of the shelves on top of the sink and Caroline took the moment to look around his bathroom. It was big. Not one of those flats that college students live in, where the shower, the toilet and the sink are crammed into a tiny space—this was big. Bigger than what Caroline had at her house back in Mystic Falls, and definitely bigger than the dorm bath. She tried not to feel bitter about the amount of wealth Klaus casually owned. She failed. Oh, well.

Caroline took out the first aid and helped Klaus clean up in silence. It wasn't as awkward or uncomfortable as she had been expecting it to be. She also got to see the many tattoos Klaus had peppered all over his chest. There was a feather, a bird and a triangle. She wondered what all of those meant. There was one small wolf on his right rib cage. She wanted to press her thumb against it and feel it press back against the pad of her skin, but she didn't.

"Maybe you should take a shower," Caroline said, looking at the mud in his hair. God, they must have been fighting like animals, she thought frowning. Klaus nodded, touching his hair.

Caroline stepped out and sat on his bed, and as time passed, she felt herself melting into the soft bed, until she was completely lying down on her back, browsing through her phone. That's how Klaus found her when he stepped out of the shower, fifteen minutes later, a towel wrapped around his waist and nothing more. She didn't realize he had come out of the bathroom until he said, "I thought you'd be gone."

Caroline propped herself on her forearms and was about to formulate a snarky response when everything died in her throat at the sight of Klaus. "Yuh," she choked out. Klaus smirked at her and gave her a look that could only be described as smoldering—she high-key hated herself for using such a cheesy word, but damnit! That's what it was! It _was _smoldering—as he walked towards her. Her throat was so dry, she couldn't even find it in herself to protest when Klaus lay down on the bed, next to her.

Caroline stared at the ceiling, her throat in her heart. Okay, okay, Klaus was naked—except for that towel—and lying next to her, okay. She tried to process the information without freaking the fuck out but failed miserably. She couldn't even muster up the courage to _look _at Klaus. She hated how nervous and silly she was acting. She had seen her share of dicks—and been with a lot of people. She didn't need to be —she wasn't this—ugh. She still couldn't look away from the ceiling.

"Caroline," Klaus's voice said, causing her breath to stop.

"uh-huh?" Caroline's voice sounded squeaky. Damn you, Caroline! She scolded herself.

"Are you going to look at me at all, love?" Caroline could hear the smugness in his voice. The bastard.

"I'm good with looking at the ceiling, thank you." At least her voice was stable now even if it was small.

"Caroline," Klaus said again. His voice was lower, and she felt him scoot closer to her.

"What?" Caroline snapped, annoyed. Yes, annoyance and anger were familiar feelings she could hide behind. They guaranteed safety. This, right now, was unfamiliar dangerous territory.

"You're lovely."

Caroline's head snapped to the side to look at Klaus. Eyes alight with suspicion. "What?"

Klaus smirked, a victorious look in his eyes. Ugh, she looked! Klaus was much closer than she anticipated but Caroline knew she couldn't look away now.

"I said, you're lovely."

"Thank you, I know," Caroline said, an air of haughtiness around her. Klaus snorted.

Caroline smirked at him. She was suddenly caught by the desire to touch the hair on his face. It was as if a force from outside was guiding her, as she gave into her desires, and lifted a palm. Klaus watched her closely, his face unreadable as Caroline ran a finger along his jaw, feeling the brittle hairs of his scruffy beard against her skin, some sharp and some soft. She had always wondered what it would feel like and now she did. She cupped his entire cheek and before she could stop herself, she leaned forward to press her mouth against his.

Finally. The deed had been done. All those months of tension and denial and escaping and Caroline couldn't believe it was _her _that had sought him out, and it was _her _that had chosen to stay despite having the option to leave, and it was _her _that had finally kissed Klaus. Well, for all those months of sexual tension, Caroline expected someone to pop open a champagne, and blast the confetti—or at least for the kiss to be amazing, but Klaus was frozen, stone underneath her. Caroline pulled away, surprised.

"Um, did you not want—," she began, her face hovering over Klaus's, when he seemed to have suddenly realized something, for he snapped out of his stupor and lifted his head to press his lips against hers', cutting off her words.

Klaus's lips pressed against Caroline's, soft but urgent. She didn't expect the softness and responded with more fervor and passion than she knew she had. The angle was all wrong and hurting her neck, so she did what any reasonable person would do—she got up and straddled him. Klaus let out a whoosh, groaning.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" Caroline asked, immediately panicky and apologetic.

"No, my ribs—," He said, his face twisted in agony, pointing to where the skin was bruised and was tender.

Caroline immediately pulled away, straddling his thighs now, deciding how to proceed, if he wanted to proceed, if it was _wise _to proceed considering his state. She was distracted by the towel which had loosened and was sliding further down. She looked up at Klaus to see his eyes had darkened. But he also looked really tired and worn out. Caroline felt a rush of pity and affection run through her. He was trying to be awake and present when all he really needed was rest. She crawled back to her place next to him.

"Why—we can," Klaus began to protest but Caroline shushed him. "I'm plenty good with this too," Caroline said pressing soft kisses against his jaw and his mouth. Klaus reached for her mouth again. He deepened the kiss, taking the lead now, as he hovered over her. Caroline pressed the tip of her tongue to Klaus's mouth and he happily obliged, opening it to allow her entrance. As their tongues battled for control, Klaus's hands roamed over Caroline's shirt, fingers skirting her waist before slipping in to caress her back and pull her further closer to him.

Caroline also took this opportunity do some exploration of her own. Taking care to not be too rough in her handling, she let her fingers flutter over Klaus's chest, his abdomen, his tattoos. Finally, those damn tattoos she had been eager to finger. But her mouth latched onto Klaus's did not help her _look_. She pulled away from Klaus to continue her exploration, swatting his hands away from her. She had been waiting too long, those peeks from all those months when she would pretend to not look at him playing basketball shirtless, or when his shirt would ride up in parties, now was her chance, to look, to touch, to _taste._

Klaus watched with fascination as Caroline looked at him with a hunger, he had felt within himself all this time. He never really thought he would see it in her apart from the moments they would share at times. She had always seemed so far away from him, out of his reach. But she was here now, out of her own volition. And she was looking at him like she wanted him, wanted to learn everything about him. The way her hands were curiously skimming across his skin—he tried not wince when she brushed a tender spot but failed. Caroline immediately pulled away.

"Yeah, maybe we should just not," Caroline said, smiling nervously. Klaus's face dropped like he was expecting her to run out. "We can just talk...?" She said, shrugging a shoulder. Klaus rubbed her thighs affectionately, nodding.

Caroline excitedly lay down next to him. He turned on his side carefully to face her, eyes shining with mirth and excitement. "What do you want to talk about?" Klaus asked. Caroline let out a snort. When he gave her a questioning look, she said, "Don't you remember?"

He only looked more confused. Caroline creeped closer to him. "I want to talk about you, your hopes, your dreams and everything you want in life," Caroline said in a poor imitation of Klaus. It was what he had said to her months ago outside a party, on a park bench.

"Is that supposed to be a British accent?" Klaus asked, laughing, clutching his side, seemingly both in pain and joy. "That's horrible."

Caroline rolled her eyes at him good-naturedly.

"I can't believe I'm here doing _this_," she snorted.

"If I knew all it took was to beat Stefan's arse, I would have gotten to it ages ago," Klaus smirked.

Caroline frowned. "Why _did _you beat up Stefan? You can't do that anymore, by the way."

Klaus shrugged. "He was annoying me," he said. Caroline's frown only deepened.

"What do you mean he was _annoying _you?" she felt anger and annoyance bubbling in her.

Klaus's face entirely shut down and he looked away to lay on his back. "Hey, what is it?" Caroline asked again, annoyed that he wasn't answering her.

"I don't want to talk about it," he bit out. Caroline gave him an unfathomable look.

"But why—,"

"Caroline," he said shooting a warning glare. Caroline scoffed.

"You beat him to a pulp," Caroline said, sitting up. "This is why I came here in the first place."

Klaus gave her a look before swinging his legs on the other side of the bed to stand up. Was he leaving? Caroline thought. But he had just been making his way to his closet—which was gigantic—and opened it to rummage through his clothes. Caroline lay back on the bed with a huff of frustration. Everything was going so well so far. Why couldn't he just tell her what the problem with Stefan was? With Klaus acting all distant and now practically ignoring her, Caroline felt awkwardness creep in.

What the hell was she thinking anyway? Kissing Klaus? Helping him clean up and then making out with him and just—just _fondling _him? Right after he almost beat Stefan up to a pulp. She chewed her lip anxiously. And now that he was acting all distant and weird, Caroline felt even weirder and embarrassed.

"I'm going to leave," Caroline announced to no one in particular. Klaus, who had just pulled on a pair of sweats, and was currently looking for something in his closet—what Caroline assumed was a shirt—suddenly stilled, but he did not turn back.

"Oh," he said. "Alright, then."

Geez. If he could be any more obvious that he didn't care. Caroline felt her eyes sting with tears as she felt the humiliation creep in. She couldn't believe she was in Klaus's bed hoping he would look at her and talk to her. Ugh, how the mighty have fallen! She pursed her lips angrily as she got off the bed—and Klaus still refused to look at her. She wanted to punch him.

"You know, you're kind of an asshole," Caroline spit out as she made to leave. She felt a hand—Klaus's—pull her back by her upper-arm.

Klaus said, "Why am _I _an asshole?"

Caroline glared at him. He gave her an equally venomous glare. "Really, you're asking me that?"

"Yes," he said without missing a beat. Caroline struggled against his hold and Klaus didn't fight it. He let her go immediately.

"Well, for starters," Caroline said, crossing her arms across her chest, "you refuse to tell me what happened with Stefan. And then you act all distant and weird and can't bear to look at me suddenly?"

"I was looking for a shirt for you," Klaus said, as he lifted his hand to show Caroline the shirt he held. Caroline felt her face soften and her heart melt a little, but she didn't let her expression waver too much. She was still mad at him.

"And the thing with Stefan," Klaus said, taking a step towards her. "I don't want to talk about it." After a pause. "Why don't you ask him?"

At Caroline's silence Klaus smirked, "he wouldn't talk about it either, would he?"

"Ugh, yes, he wouldn't!" Caroline relented. Klaus's smirk only widened as he brushed his knuckles along Caroline's cheek.

"Let it go, Caroline," he whispered softly, his breath fanning her face. "Let's just go back to bed."

Caroline saw the tiredness in his face and felt a pang of affection in her chest. "Um, I—," Caroline began but paused. "I don't know if this is such a good idea, you know." Klaus's face fell immediately. "I mean, I like you, but—,"

"I understand," Klaus said, cutting in. "You should leave."

"But if you insist and refuse to let me leave then I guess I have no choice, do I?" Caroline said really quickly as she snatched the shirt from Klaus's hand and started shrugging off her shirt. Klaus watched her amusedly.

"Really, now? I'm forcing you to stay?" he scoffed, sitting at the edge of his bed and pulling her from the hoop of her belt. Caroline had almost pulled the shirt Klaus had given her down her head when she let out a squeal at Klaus's tugging. She found herself sitting in his lap.

"I thought we were going to bed," she said, amused, trying not to let her heart go crazy again with its rapid beating and what not. She still wasn't used to this whole thing with _Klaus. _She didn't know he could be all soft and tender and affectionate and cute and—Caroline's thoughts came to a stop when Klaus's lips pressed to hers'. His hands moved from her thigh to slide up to the button of her jeans to help her undo it. Caroline was only so thankful. So, when her pants came off, Caroline was ready especially when Klaus swung her to place her gently against the bed and—roll off of her. Caroline blinked. What?

"What—What? Why did you stop?"

Klaus gave her a faux innocent look. "I'm sorry, love, were you expecting something?"

Caroline rolled her eyes. "You're insufferable, you know, that right?"

"I think I've earned that right, considering I'm worse for wear tonight," he said, dragging Caroline's hand across his chest to press it against his face.

"I know," she yawned, not bothering to cover her mouth. "We should talk about this, us, tomorrow. What it means and what it—,"

"Yes, love, I can't wait," Klaus said sarcastically. He reached a hand near the headboard to switch off the lights of the room. "Good night, Caroline," he said. But she was already asleep and snoring. Klaus could only let himself chuckle.


	2. Chapter 2

**Eight Months Ago: The First Time They Met **

"Hey Lexi," Caroline said, placing her gift in Lexi's hands, which were stretched out expectantly, dutifully. "I bought him the newest game thing. Ugh, don't ask me the name, I just bought him the thing you sent me the link to," she informed Lexi who gave her a teasing smile.

"That's good to know! At least _someone _can follow instructions well," Lexi said shooting a glance pointedly at Damon who sat sprawled across the sofa. He had a drink in his hand which he lifted in mock-salute to Lexi. Caroline wound an arm around herself consciously but otherwise ignored the elder Salvatore.

After dating him for close to six months two years ago, she had realized Damon Salvatore was _not _her cup of tea, no sir. He was good company most of the time except when he would think it was okay to do things Caroline was not okay with. Caroline flinched at the memory of teeth bites peppered all over her body. She could hardly remember much of what happened during her time with Damon. There were so many gaps in her memory... She turned away from Damon to look at Lexi again who had placed a comforting arm on her shoulder.

"Let's go into the birthday boy's room. See what he's up to?" Lexi said, smiling sympathetically. She seemed to have seen the pain in Caroline's face. Although it had been two years since the...incident, Caroline would still find it difficult to be in the company of Damon Salvatore. She nodded and let Lexi lead her into Stefan's room. He was...with company.

"Well, mate, don't let me be the one to rain on your par—," the man broke off as Caroline and Lexi came in.

"Hey Klaus," Lexi said as she sat on Stefan's bed. "That's Caroline." Caroline shot the man—Klaus—a smile and said a polite hello before going to wish her best friend a happy birthday. Stefan, who had been laying on his bed, propped up on an elbow, with the man named Klaus sitting at the foot of the bed, sat up straight to greet his friends.

"Care," Stefan breathed, smiling as he wound his arms around Caroline. "Stef," Caroline giggled as her best friend squeezed the life out of her. "I see someone missed me."

"Sorely," Stefan said, letting her go. He pulled her to make her sit on the bed next to him. She leaned into his side comfortably. She had missed this—warmth and comfort.

Caroline had gone to live with her dad after the Incident with Damon and she had almost lost all contact with her friends in Mystic Falls. It was only when they all had applied to several schools and decided to go to Whitmore together that they had reconnected and Caroline thought (well, Lexi thought it, but Caroline was convinced) the best way to reconnect with everyone before college officially started was to meet at Stefan's birthday party the weekend. She would be seeing everyone—in person—after almost two years now.

"We're going to hangout here," Lexi announced as she sprawled across Stefan's bed to lean over the foot of it, smiling at Klaus. Stefan shot her a questioning look. Lexi didn't reply just let the silence do its wonders and Stefan seemed to have caught onto the meaning for he just nodded. "Yeah, of course."

Caroline noticed Klaus shoot a curious look at the both of them but didn't comment. She let out a sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding. He seemed to have sensed some tension in the room for he immediately said. "It's nice to meet you, Caroline," in his deep voice and dimpled smile. Caroline felt her cheeks grow pink but said, "likewise."

"What were you and Stefan talking about before we came in?" Lexi asked.

"Nothing worth mentioning," Klaus said dismissively, effectively cutting off whatever Stefan was about to say. Klaus's phone buzzed and he looked down at check it.

"Bekah is saying she'll be here in an hour," Klaus said to Stefan with a smirk. Stefan immediately groaned and Lexi let out a snicker. Caroline watched all of them curiously before asking, "Who is Bekah?"

Stefan squeezed her arm and sighed before saying, "Rebekah is Klaus's sister."

"And Stefan's ex," Klaus completed with a triumphant smirk. "It was a very messy break up."

"Could you be enjoying this anymore?" Lexi asked, swatting Klaus on the shoulder with a laugh.

"Your ex?" Caroline asked ignoring Lexi and Klaus who were now engrossed in their own conversation. "How come you never told me about her?" Stefan gave her a pained look.

"It was a few months after you—you left."

Caroline waited for more information but that seemed to be it all. "O-kay," Caroline said, sitting up straight. "Well, what, what happened between the two of you?"

"Not a lot to talk about, honestly. We dated for about three months before I called it quits...," Stefan's voice trailed off as if he was remembering something. "She was not happy about it."

"She torched your car, mate," Klaus said making Lexi chortle. He seemed to have been listening in to their conversation. "Although I do believe it was well deserved."

"Well your dad _was _kind enough to buy me a new one," Stefan shrugged as if it was no big deal. What the hell? Caroline, whose eyes which were already wide with disbelief after hearing Klaus's words, couldn't help but swat Stefan's arm, after hearing her best friend talk so casually about some psychopath torching his car.

"She torched your car and now she's coming to your party!?" Caroline almost shrieked with disbelief. What was this dysfunctional behavior? "No offense," she said looking at Klaus, before turning to look at Stefan again, "but if my ex did that then I would not be—," she broke off as a realization dawned on her. Her ex tried to violently fuck her and yet she was here at his house for his younger brother's birthday party. "Okay, clearly I'm not the person to judge you."

"Why, love, whose car did you torch?" Klaus asked, smirking; his eyes alight with amusement. Caroline raised an eyebrow. Who was this guy again?

"Nobody," Caroline said defensively, "but maybe I should start with yours," she teased. Klaus's smirk only got wider.

"You would do me such honor?" he asked. Caroline snorted. She did not catch the look of amusement Lexi shot at Stefan, or the look of concern Stefan shot back at Lexi.

"How do you guys know each other?" Caroline asked, looking at Klaus again, as if seeing him for the first time. His dirty-blonde curly hair, his deep blue eyes and the smirk. And the _accent_? Now, Stefan had friends from England? Caroline_had _missed out on a lot, hadn't she?

"We're—," Klaus began but Stefan cut him off saying, "we're neighbours."

Caroline turned to give him a look of confusion. "He's—," she began, and then looked at Klaus again, "you live in Mystic Falls?"

Klaus gave her a small mock bow. "Yes, ma'am; moved here two years ago." He stood up to sit next to Lexi, who still lay sprawled across the bed, but near Caroline's feet. Caroline pulled her outstretched legs to make room for Klaus. He smiled at her gratefully. She found herself smiling back.

"Ah," Caroline commented finally, processing his words. Two years ago. Right after Caroline had left Mystic Falls.

"How do you all know each other?" Klaus asked in return.

"I know Lexi through Stefan," Caroline said. "And I—I also used to live here. Until two years ago."

"Oh, what changed?"

"Not—nothing. I just wanted a difference," Caroline said, trying not to stumble. Stefan and Lexi, who had been watching the exchange carefully suddenly felt the need to rescue their friend from any more of Klaus's questions for they each immediately jumped into the conversation to lead it somewhere else.

"I think the air is really bad in this room," Stefan said. Caroline shot him a look of disbelief. Really? _That's_what he came up with? Lexi was better, though.

"Okay, I think that's enough of the boring talk. I think I hear some guests come in," Lexi said swinging her legs off of the bed. "And I don't want them to be greeted by Damon, of all people." She stood up and offered a hand to Caroline and another to Stefan. "Coming?"

"Yes," Caroline said faking a smile. She was grateful for the distraction.

"What about me?" Klaus asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are we to abandon poor little Klaus—,"

"Oh, shut it with your abandonment issues, Nik. I thought we decided it was very 2008, but I guess you're trying to bring it back again," a voice said. The person came into view as they barged into Stefan's room. Caroline was struck by the woman's beauty and also by the loud groan Stefan let out and the look of annoyance that flashed on Klaus's previously smiling face. Caroline turned to look at Lexi for an explanation who mouth the word 'Rebekah' to her. Oh.

"Ah, Bekah, I see you're here earlier than promised," Klaus commented with a tight smile.

"Yes, well, I got done with my errands sooner than expected."

"Is that what you call your fuckboys now?" Lexi said not unkindly. Rebekah shot her a smirk.

"No, my fuckboys take a little bit longer to get done. Unlike someone else I know," she said pointedly. And then turned to Stefan to further emphasize her point. "Speaking of which, happy birthday, Stefan. You can quit hiding behind Lexi, now."

"Hey," Stefan squeaked.

Caroline let out a giggle which she immediately covered with her hand. But she seemed to have drawn Rebekah's attention for she turned to her inspecting her.

"And who's this?" Rebekah said with an air of disdain that rubbed Caroline the wrong way. She narrowed her eyes. She completely took back the beautiful compliment. The girl wasn't all that good-looking now that you think about it.

"I'm Caroline," Caroline said warily. "Nice to meet you...Rebekah."

Rebekah gave her a critical look and said, as if with great effort, "Yes, well, likewise."

"Now, are we going to get this party started or what?" Rebekah said, in a no-nonsense tone. Everybody immediately started shuffling outside. Soon, the party that was organized by Lexi was taken over by Rebekah and the former didn't seem to really mind. Caroline knew that she wouldn't have been that benevolent if she were in Lexi's place, but even she had to admit Rebekah had great music and she knew how to get a party going. Especially when more and more people started streaming in Rebekah knew exactly where to accommodate them and how to threaten them into not using any of the bedrooms that were strictly off-limits.

"Good party," Caroline said to Lexi who grinned back at her. "I see why you invited her now," she said. Lexi smiled back slyly at her.

"Bekah's great."

"Really? But she burned Stefan's car!" Caroline said, sipping on her drink, eyes wide. She didn't imagine Lexi would choose Rebekah over Stefan.

"Well, yes, but I wouldn't say he didn't exactly deserve it."

Caroline's eyebrows rose. Her interest was officially piqued. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, just that someone couldn't keep it in their pants and slept with someone. And that said someone turned out to be someone else's girlfriend. Someone's brother's girlfriend."

Caroline's eyebrows had now receded into her hairline. She would have asked for more details if Lexi hadn't been pulled into a conversation

"I've been looking for you," she heard a voice say. She turned around to find it was Klaus.

"And why is that?" Caroline smiled coyly. If the pretty boy wanted to flirt, she wasn't going to hold back either.

"Because—," his voice got cut off.

"What did you say?" Caroline asked loudly. With the loud music and people bumping into them every second, Caroline couldn't hear him properly. He leaned closer, lips almost pressed to her ear, the warmth from his mouth causing something to flutter in Caroline's stomach. She still couldn't hear anything. She had forgotten to listen; she had been so enamored by the whole intimacy of the thing. She just put on a blasé look and shrugged.

Klaus wrapped an arm around her elbow and gently tugged at her to follow him outside the crowd until they were in the Salvatore gardens.

"I apologize for dragging you outside. I felt like we would just be engaged in a very bizarre screaming match inside," Klaus said. "And I wanted to talk to you."

Caroline smiled. "Talk? Is that all you wanted to do?" She asked boldly. Klaus seemed flustered for two seconds before a smirk curved along his lips. Caroline followed the movement greedily.

"For now," he said with good measure. Caroline's smile only widened.

"Would you—would you like to take a walk?" Klaus asked, gesturing at the gardens. Caroline remembered spending much of her childhood in these gardens. She did not mind the idea of taking a stroll down the memory lane, so she nodded.

"I would come here every weekend with Elena and Bonnie," she said, smiling at the memory. Stefan had the biggest house and the biggest lawns, meaning that the kids were free to play from morning to evening unsupervised in the large grounds; free to explore and cause havoc. At the thought of Elena and Bonnie, Caroline felt her stomach clench nervously. She hadn't seen them since she had moved to San Francisco. Were they at the party, already? She was afraid to even check her phone.

"You grew up pretty close to the Salvatore family, then?"

"Yes, kind of," Caroline said carefully; she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, self-consciously.

"Are you and Stefan...?" Klaus trailed off.

"What?" Caroline's face twisted funnily with disbelief. "NO!" She protested with a laugh. "We've always been friends." A pause. Caroline felt a heaviness descend on her as she let the next couple of words out. "I did date Damon though." She couldn't hide from it forever. Saying it aloud like a casual fact however was still jarring.

"Oh, I assume things didn't end on a good note...?" Klaus asked, his voice low and careful. Caroline shot him an irritated look at that. She didn't want to talk about it _that _much. "I apologize for—,"

"Yeah, never mind that," Caroline said quickly, cutting him off. She didn't want to talk about it anymore. "What brought you to Mystic Falls?"

"My mother loves this place for some reason," Klaus said cryptically. "So, we came."

"You and Rebekah and your parents?"

"And the rest of my siblings."

"You have more?"

"We're five, all of us," Klaus said.

Caroline felt a stab of jealousy go through her. She always wanted a big family, but she was the only child. So alone. She had always been jealous of the brotherhood Stefan and Damon had. Even after the Incident, Stefan eventually refused to leave his brother's side. Of course, as a good friend he shunned his brother...but even then, he didn't really leave his brother's side. He stuck by him. Caroline had always wondered if that's what blood mean, what having a sibling meant. To truly stick by you through thick and thin. She hated Stefan for what he did, but also was so jealous and angry that she didn't have the same. She wondered if she had siblings...if they would have been with Caroline; stood by her; beaten up Damon for her.

"I'm jealous," Caroline said after a considerable amount of silence had passed. "I wish I had siblings."

"Oh, trust me, you don't," Klaus let out a breathy chuckle, "they're a pain in the arse."

"Something tells me you're exaggerating."

Klaus shot her an indulgent smile. "It is fun most times, though," he admitted. "But you had a lot of friends, from what I hear and can see."

"Yes, well...," Caroline trailed off. "So, you met Stefan after you moved in here?" she asked trying to change the conversation again.

"Not exactly." Klaus tugged on her wrist to lead to one of the park benches. "Our families have known each other for generations."

"Ah." Caroline claimed, sitting on the bench next to Klaus. She pulled up a leg to be able to sit facing Klaus. He nodded.

"You said you moved away? Where do you live now?"

"San Francisco." A pause. Then, "But I'll be moving closer to Mystic Falls now. I'm going to Whitmore in the Fall."

"Fair play!" Klaus exclaimed. "I'm a student there."

"Oh," Caroline's eyes widened. "That's so cool! What are you majoring in?"

"Art History."

"Ah. Sounds good. I don't know a lot about art."

"I could take you to museums."

Caroline raised an eyebrow at Klaus's hopeful but cocky expression. She let out a breathy chuckle. "Sounds good to me," she said. They sat there smiling at each other softly till Klaus decided to break the silence and ask her, "so what will you be studying?"

"I will be majoring in Event Management." At Klaus's look, she laughed. "I know it's not all fancy like _Art History_," she did a mock impression of Klaus, who let out a bark of laughter, "but I like it." She shrugged. Klaus nodded mock-serious.

"Well, of course, one must do things in life they like."

Caroline rolled her eyes at his patronizing tone. She pressed the leg resting on the bench against her chest and leaned forward, leaning her chin on the knee of her now folded leg. "So," she said.

"So?"

"Tell me something more."

"About what?"

"Anything," she said, sighing. She closed her eyes. This had been the most peaceful and least stressful thing she was experiencing today. Everything else had been so stressful. But right now, she felt at peace. She felt good, safe even.

"What are the names of your siblings?" Caroline asked when Klaus seemed to be struggling to come up with something to talk about. Klaus gave her a look of curiosity before complying and answering her question.

"Finn is the oldest, and then there's Elijah, and then me, then Kol and Rebekah."

"Wow, there's names and then there's your names."

Klaus chuckled. "I know. My family likes old Viking names."

"Are you close with your siblings?"

"Yes," Klaus said without missing a beat. Caroline liked that a lot. She felt a pang of loneliness go through her.

"So, you moved to San Francisco with your parents?" he asked.

"No... just my dad. My parents divorced when I was eight," Caroline said. "My mom's the town sheriff." A sudden realization seemed to have dawned on Klaus.

"Ah, the admirable Sheriff Forbes is your mother?"

Caroline cocked her head to the side. "You've met her." It wasn't a question.

"Yes...I've had interesting run-ins with her because of my brother Kol." Klaus sighed. "He's quite the troublemaker. I'm sure he'll turn up tonight at an indecent hour ready to cause havoc."

Caroline giggled. She wondered how the rest of Klaus's siblings measured up.

"Why did you move away from Mystic Falls?" Klaus asked suddenly causing Caroline to immediately stiffen. "Was it because of—,"

"Some stuff," Caroline said immediately. "I wanted to leave. For a bit."

Klaus watched her carefully but didn't say anything. "We should head back to the party," Caroline said getting up and not giving Klaus any room to protest. He only followed her lead, standing up too. As they made their way back, they were ensconced in a quasi-comfortable awkward silence.

"Well, this was nice," Caroline said, when they were at the door and soon, they would be inaudible to each other. Klaus smiled at her.

"Yes, it was."

Something felt off. It felt like they were saying goodbye and for some reason Caroline didn't really like it that much. "You want to get a drink?"

Klaus's smile widened. "Yes, please."

As soon as they stepped in, it was a blur of noise, smoke and the smell of alcohol. She felt Klaus's arm, gentle but firm, around her elbow. She didn't stop herself from smiling at the feeling. She could feel his chest lightly bump into her back in intervals as she led them through the crowd to the bar; she could also feel one of his arms around her side, not touching, but protecting her from intoxicated, dancing people bumping into her.

When they reached the bar, Klaus turned to ask her what she'd like to drink but seemed distracted by something taking place behind Caroline. His expression suddenly darkened, and he stalked across the room. Caroline turned to find what it was that soured his mood so and saw Rebekah across the room trying to wrench her arm from the grip of some boy. Caroline immediately followed Klaus, a stab of fear going through her.

By the time Klaus and Caroline had made their way to the scene, Rebekah had already wrenched her arm free and had even smacked the guy across the face, it seemed, for the guy was clutching his face.

"You fucking—," the guy began, but wasn't able to complete for Klaus had already shoved him against the wall. When the guy resisted Klaus only smacked his head against the wall harder. Caroline watched with trepidation as Klaus twisted the guy's arm behind his back and push him against the floor, a knee immediately holding him in place.

"I had it under control, Nik," Rebekah said, crossing her arms across her chest, not looking very happy. Caroline looked on, hesitant and kind of afraid if she were to be honest. She didn't like it when things at parties—or anywhere—turned violent. Not a lot of people realized what was happening, giving into the haze of alcohol.

"I'm not doubting you did," Klaus said evenly. "Nobody touches you like that and breathes easy."

Caroline saw Rebekah's face soften even as she rolled her eyes. "I'm going to go put the garbage out and come back," he said looking at his sister, and then at Caroline. Rebekah only rolled her eyes but gave way to him.

"Are you okay?" Caroline asked, after Klaus had left with the guy dragging behind him. Rebekah nodded easily. "I'm fine, thank you," Rebekah said curtly. Something she saw in Caroline's face seemed to have softened her for she put an arm on Caroline's shoulder and said, "are _you _alright?" she looked concerned. Caroline felt touched by the kindness and managed a soft smile.

"Yes, I'm fine...I was a bit shaken by the whole...thing," she admitted shyly. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"Yes, I am." Rebekah smiled and for the first time Caroline thought perhaps this girl wasn't that bad. She could understand why Lexi liked her; why Stefan dated her.

"Let's get a drink, yeah?" Rebekah said, pulling Caroline by her wrist. Caroline followed the girl easily, letting her lead her through the crowd.

"So, tell me Caroline, how are you liking being back in this small town?" Rebekah asked once they each had a drink in their hands.

"It's fine, I guess," Caroline said and then looked at Rebekah suspiciously. She knew she had lived her previously? "You know I left?"

Rebekah watched her carefully for a moment before answering. "Yes. I know." Caroline felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. Of course, Stefan would have told her. They _had been _dating after all. Caroline licked her lips nervously.

"San Francisco is nice," she said lamely, trying to attempt to change the conversation. "How are you liking it here?"

"It's pretty boring," Rebekah sighed, "but I'm going to Uni in fall so I'll be out of this damn town. Looking forward to _that_."

"Oh!" Caroline's eyes lit up. "Are you also going to Whitmore by chance?"

Rebekah snorted. "No chance in hell am I going to the same college my brother is in, or where my ex-boyfriend and his group of minions will be going. No offense." She flashed her pearly whites at Caroline who barely hid her grimace. "I'll be attending one near Whitmore. Covington."

"Ah," Caroline said and continued to politely sip on her drink. She was about to ask more questions when they were interrupted by Klaus, who was accompanied by another man. Very good looking, Caroline observed. She was not disappointed by the amount of good looking people in this party. She hummed happily.

"I met Kol outside," Klaus said as way of explanation, looking at Rebekah. "This is my brother Kol," Klaus said, turning to Caroline. "Kol, this is my friend, Caroline."

Caroline smiled and offered Kol her hand to shake. To her surprise, he gave her a devilish smirk and kissed the back of her palm. "A pleasure," he said. Caroline couldn't help the blush that overtook her cheeks.

"Cool it," Klaus growled from behind making Caroline's blush only darken. Rebekah let out a snort and turned to Kol and said, "what took you so long? And where have you been?"

"I had some ladies to please," Kol said with an air of self importance, and then added, "And I met your harasser, 'Bekah." Kol said an evil smile on his face. Rebekah's face mirrored her brother's.

"I trust you showed him a good time?"

"So good he'll never want to touch another again."

Rebekah smiled, showing all of her perfect teeth. "That's a relief, then."

Caroline watched this exchange with fascination. She really wanted siblings. The moment was interrupted when Lexi's voice cut through them.

"Come on guys, we're cutting the cake!" she said, with a wide smile. She wound an arm around Caroline and Klaus's shoulders—almost falling. She was visibly drunk but not completely black out drunk. Caroline regarded her critically.

"Want me to help?" she asked her friend. Lexi gave her a lopsided smile, leaning into Klaus unconsciously, who held her up easily.

"Yes, darling. You're the best," she wound her arms around Caroline's neck immediately. Caroline's arms immediately came up to support Lexi and pull her up, but the latter seemed to be slipping. She gave a look of panic to Klaus who let out a chuckle but came forward to help her with Lexi.

"I'll help you lead her to the kitchen," he said with a smile. "And I'll see you two in a minute. Rebekah, keep Kol out of trouble."

"Oh, drop your big brother act, Nik." Kol smirked, "we get it, you want to look cool for the girl."

Rebekah snickered while Caroline couldn't help the blush that stained her cheeks. Klaus did not look amused but he did not reply, choosing to walk to the kitchen with Caroline in tow. When they reached the kitchen, Klaus deposited Lexi in one of the highchairs, standing next to her to make sure she didn't fall off.

"I'm not _that _drunk, guys," she said, giggling. Caroline rolled her eyes but smiled indulgently at her friend. She had missed her. Though Lexi did not live in Mystic Falls, she would often come to visit Stefan from New York and the three of them would end up spending a lot of time together. After Caroline left Mystic Falls, she couldn't see Lexi a whole lot. It hurt her to know that the thread holding them together was Stefan. Lexi never offered to come down to see Caroline in San Francisco, and Caroline never asked to see if she could come up to see Lexi in New York. It was too...awkward. After what happened. Caroline had been angry and disappointed with Lexi but seeing her now...she felt only tenderness for her friend. She had missed this carefree conversation and banter. These small acts of silliness.

"Where is the cake?" Caroline asked, amused at her friend blowing raspberries at Klaus who found it perfectly acceptable to flick her friend across the forehead lightly.

"It's in the fridge," Lexi said distractedly. "Your flicks are weak," she said to Klaus, otherwise.

"I'm going easy on you, love," Klaus said, good-naturedly. "I don't want to damage your already damaged skull."

"Ha-ha, Mr. Funny," Lexi blew another raspberry at him. Klaus smiled at her indulgently before turning to Caroline.

"Found it?"

"Yep," Caroline said, from where she was concealed behind the enormous door of the fridge. "Damn, I really hope it's—,"

"Strawberry," Klaus finished at the same time Caroline said, "Chocolate."

She peeked out from above the door. "Strawberry?" she asked. Klaus shrugged. "It's only the best," he said as way of explanation.

"No, it's not," Lexi protested, leaning against the kitchen island. Caroline nodded eagerly. "And it's chocolate, Caroline. Your favorite."

Caroline smiled but a small frown came over her lips. "But Stefan likes vanilla."

"Like his sex," Lexi said, "so predictable."

Caroline let out a nervous laugh. She did not want to be talking about sex with Klaus a foot away from her. She felt so nervous...but excited. "Yes, well," Caroline said, trying to change the topic, "why didn't you get vanilla, though?"

"Oh, just because," Lexi said, smiling again, though it did not seem very genuine, "we thought chocolate would be the best. Everybody likes it."

"I don't," Klaus pointed out. Caroline rolled her eyes. "Everyone sensible, of course," Caroline teased. Klaus caught her eye and smiled back at her. The kitchen door suddenly swung open, startling them. It was—Caroline's heart stopped, and stomach lurched—Damon.

Caroline and Damon hadn't been in each other's presence, save for the two seconds in the afternoon, and now they were in the same room, with less than five people in it. This was not good. In fact, today was the first time Caroline was seeing Damon after having left Mystic Falls. After the bites and the violence...Damon had apologized profusely to Caroline, which she had felt compelled to accept, seeing as all of her friends were hanging by a thread. But she had refused to maintain any contact with him or allow him to come near her. Damon had respected that, thankfully. This was the condition that Caroline lay down to not press charges against him. So maybe he had respected her decisions out of fear, but still, it was enough for her. But seeing him now, in such close proximity, and looking visibly drunk—he _had_been drinking since afternoon—brought up the fear and anxiety she had been clamping down on all day.

"Caroline," Damon said, his eyes focusing on her and a sleepy smile overcame his face. Caroline flinched as he made his way towards her. She immediately backed away, but he didn't stop.

"Blondie, you know I'm sorry right, I mean everyone won't stop hating me," Damon slurred, as he leaned over Caroline who flinched and tried to get away.

"Get—," Caroline began, her voice high-pitch, and the panic causing her to almost screech, "away from me," she finished bravely as she shoved Damon who landed on the floor.

"Ow, that hurt," Damon groaned, from the floor. Klaus, who had until now been observing warily, came at Caroline's side after making sure Lexi wouldn't topple over. Even the drunk girl seemed to have regained her senses for she was immediately at Damon's drunk ass on the floor.

"Stay away from her, god," Lexi said, seemingly annoyed and angry.

"You alright, love?" Klaus asked, meanwhile, an arm reaching out to comfort Caroline but pulling away immediately when Caroline flinched violently.

"I'm—," Caroline ground out, "I'm okay." She wound her arms around herself.

"I'm sorry, blondie, we're all sorry. Heck, we organized this entire thing for _you_. Doesn't that tell you how sorry we are?"

Caroline shot a confused look towards Lexi. "What—what does he mean?"

"Look around you—," Damon began, but Lexi effectively shut him off by shouting on top him.

"Would you shut the fuck up? God, you're such a lost cause. It's a wonder anyone puts up with you!" Lexi shouted. Caroline only watched with growing disbelief and a sinking sensation in her stomach. Was this all a ploy to make everything seem normal again? Was this why they had invited her here?

The noise seemed to have caught the attention of people outside, for lo, behold, Stefan, and behind him, Bonnie and Elena, came in looking worried and confused. As soon as they saw the scene in front of them, their expression grew only grave.

"Caroline," Bonnie said, softness in her voice, the nostalgia almost killed Caroline, but she stood frozen in place, staring at the ground, unable to look at any of her... friends.

"I need to go get some air," Caroline declared to no one in particular as she walked past her friends' whom she hadn't seen in two years, despite their protests. She didn't even notice someone was following her until she was outside the door and into the Salvatore Gardens and walking rapidly to sit on the bench, she had been sitting with Klaus not an hour ago. When she noticed someone was following her, she stopped to see that it was Klaus.

"I'll leave you, if you want to be alone," Klaus said before she could say anything. Caroline regarded him with a frown before just sitting on the bench and motioning for him to do the same. Just an hour ago everything had been so beautiful and peaceful. They had been in this same place...but things had been so different. But had they, really? Caroline had just pushed everything under the rug and called it beautiful. The difference now was that the creatures from under the rug had emerged. And they wanted to cause havoc. Caroline felt a shudder go through her. She pulled her legs into her chest protectively.

She glanced at Klaus who seemed to be looking at her with a worried expression. He seemed to be at a loss on what to do or say. Caroline was too tired to help him out and was content with watching him struggle—it was distraction enough for her, she thought to herself, dryly. Klaus finally seemed to have found something for his eyes lit up and he said, "would you like to know _why _Rebekah torched Stefan's car?"

Caroline looked at him not deigning to answer. She was too exhausted. Klaus took her silence for acquiescence for he said, "well it was because he slept with my brother's girlfriend. Your friend Elena's sister, Katherine."

Caroline's eyes visibly widened. Klaus smiled. "I know. While Stefan and Rebekah broke things off, Elijah has remained adamant to hold onto to Katherine. They're still working through things." He became silent suddenly. There seemed to be a war waging inside of him. "He's—he's the reason you left." He wasn't asking anymore. Caroline did not answer. She only closed her eyes. She felt a tear leak from the corner of her eyes, but she didn't bother wiping it off. She was so exhausted.

When she opened her eyes, Klaus was not looking at her. He was grimly staring off into the distance, into the darkness of the gardens. They sat there like that for what seemed like an eternity. But it was interrupted by a dark looming figure—Stefan.

"Caroline," he said, looking wary and hesitant, "can I talk to you?"

Caroline looked at Klaus and nodded. He nodded back and rose to leave. "I'll be inside, love. Call me if you need anything." Caroline couldn't help feel touched at the offer. She nodded slowly, her gaze following him until his body was lost to the darkness of the night.

Stefan sat down where Klaus had sat a moment ago. It felt all wrong. Caroline didn't like it. "Caroline, I'm sorry for what happened. It wasn't supposed to go like that."

"Did you guys organize this party for me?" Caroline asked flatly, all emotion drained from her. When Stefan remained silent, she took it for a yes. "Was it supposed to be some sort of sick welcome back party? Like hey, let's all forget Damon beat you and bit you and almost tried to rape you party?" All day she had been treading carefully around the words and now she had finally said it—to Stefan, no less. He flinched, looking like someone had slapped him.

"No, we just wanted to—we just wanted to show that we've gotten past it and things—,"

Caroline couldn't take more of his rambling, so she cut him off, "I don't want to get _past _it, Stefan. I don't want you guys to get past it either. I don't want you guys to move on. Like it was nothing." She shook her head unable to believe that she had to _say _these things out loud.

"I'm sorry Caroline, that's not what I—what any of us wanted it to be like," Stefan said, scooting closer to Caroline and placing an arm on her shoulder. It took all the willpower in the world to not shrug Stefan's arm off. After a considerable amount of quiet had passed Stefan took it upon himself to break it.

"Don't—don't get close to Klaus. He's...," Stefan sighed. "He destroys things."

Caroline's face changed. "Really? He—," she broke off, annoyed. "I wouldn't have guessed. He looks _fine_."

"He's a step above Damon, you could say," Stefan said pointedly. Caroline kind of wanted to really punch him for having the nerve to bring that up casually.

"He left bruises over his ex's body? Tried to rape her?" Caroline asked unflinchingly, her face set in stone. The same, however could not be said for Stefan, who flinched like someone had hit him.

"No—," Stefan began but stopped abruptly. "He's got a messy personal life and mood swings and trust me; you don't want to go there."

Caroline looked at him with unconcealed anger. It wasn't that she wanted to defend Klaus that made her argue with Stefan but just this whole over-protective crap was getting on her nerves. Where was this bullshit when Damon had been terrorizing her? Was this Stefan's way of redeeming himself? Caroline couldn't help all the doubt and suspicion building inside of her for the past two years peak.

"Whatever, Stefan," Caroline said finally shrugging his hold off from her shoulder before looking for the exit. She wanted to leave and never fucking come back. She stood up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Stefan asked, frowning. His face etched with concern.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Caroline lied before she stalked off ignoring Stefan's protests. She spotted Klaus smoking near the door leading back into the house. He looked up when he saw her. Had he been waiting for her? Caroline felt a spot of tenderness at that thought.

"You okay, love?" Klaus asked, stubbing his cigarette off. His gaze wandered from Caroline to a spot behind her—Caroline knew it was Stefan, but she didn't look behind her to confirm.

"Uh-huh," Caroline said, ignoring the way her throat was closing up. _Control yourself, Caroline, you're not going to cry here like a baby._She cleared her throat and pushed through the door to go into the house again. She could hear Klaus and Stefan arguing—he seemed to be stopping the latter from pursuing Caroline and Caroline was very grateful for that. The dark lighting and the music helped her avoid anyone from her former friends as she made her way through the crowd of people to where her car was parked outside. She was getting the hell out of here and never looking back.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N – I rewrote this chapter because I wasn't satisfied with it; also one of the guest reviewers pointed out how they were uncomfortable with the very racist conversation that takes place at Rebekah's place between Kol and Tanya. I want to thank them and apologize for making them feel uncomfortable. It was not my intention. But I hope to address it again; I didn't like or approve of any of the characters or how they treated Tanya, but this is an experience I myself have had and I wanted to show it this way. We will see Tanya reacting to it later, and Caroline realizing her mistake for not defending her friend and apologizing. But if it wasn't for the reviewer, I wouldn't have thought of addressing it, so I want to thank them ****J**

**Also, a lot of this is Caroline's perspective, so having a healthy amount of doubt and skepticism while reading the story is encouraged ****J**

When in Whitmore Chapter 3

**Three Months After the Birthday Party**

After Caroline had made her escape to her mother's house and much to her mother's dismay, had immediately set off for San Francisco the early next morning. She couldn't bear to be in the same place anymore. It was only after a week of avoiding her friends' calls that she allowed them to come visit her and speak with her. Although things weren't much better, she did forgive them.

College was to begin soon and there was so much shopping and planning to do. Caroline felt herself getting so excited about decorating her dorm room and living with her friends, if possible. It was only when college began that she found that Bonnie and Elena had chosen to be each other's roommates—she tried not to feel too bad about it; she had to admit she was a bit relieved to get some distance from them. Lately she had been feeling smothered. Stefan had told her he would not be living in a dorm, but outside the campus in a flat with Matt was attending a college nearby.

Caroline found herself with a nice roommate—Tanya—from India, with whom she was apprehensive about living together at first, but soon found herself getting used to her. She kind of reminded Caroline of April from back in Mystic Falls. It was still the first week of living together so they had yet to get close. It was when they had decided to get lunch between classes one day that Caroline ran into someone she hadn't met or thought of in a long time.

"Caroline," she heard a voice call out to her as she was speed-walking on the pavement. She was going to be late if she didn't hurry up. She came to a halt when she heard someone call her name and turned to see—

"Klaus," she whispered, a smile overtaking her face before the wariness set in. She hadn't forgotten everything evil all of her friends had told her about Klaus and how she was to remain away from him at all costs. He had been leaning against a car, presumably waiting for something or someone, when he had called out her.

"How are you?" he was smiling as he came to stand in front of her.

"I'm good," Caroline said, pasting a sweet smile on her face. "Although I really need to get somewhere soon, so can I talk to you later?"

"Well, of course," he said with a sympathetic expression on his face and he immediately turned to walk to his car and open it. He looked at her as if waiting for her to get in. She raised an eyebrow, curious.

"And what do you think you're doing?" She asked.

"I thought we decided we would go to the museum," Klaus shrugged, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Caroline watched him carefully, an amused smile hanging from her lips.

"Yeah, I don't think so," she said, closing the door of the car Klaus had opened for her. Klaus raised an eyebrow, still smirking, shutting the door of the driver seat he had opened for himself. He leaned against the car, pressing a hand against the roof and resting his chin on it. Caroline tried not to think about how immensely attractive he looked...how carefree and charming.

"And why is that?"

"Because." Caroline shrugged.

"That doesn't seem like a very good reason."

"I didn't know I needed a good reason to stay away from you," Caroline said, no longer smiling. Even Klaus had stopped smiling. His face contorted into confusion which soon morphed into anger when Caroline said the next few words, "I heard about you. The things you have done; the things you do."

"And what things might they be?" Klaus asked, tightly. The mood had shifted entirely.

"Oh, you know what things," Caroline said dismissively.

"Humor me," he pressed.

"I know about the fights, Klaus," Caroline sighed, throwing her hands up in frustration. "I know all about the fights you get into. The—the brawls you and your brothers get into all the time. I just," she cocked her head to the side, shaking it, "I don't have the strength in me to deal with all of this."

Klaus clenched his jaw and then unclenched it. "Who told you all of that?"

"Is it true?"Caroline asked, instead.

"Was it Stefan?"

"That's not a no," Caroline crossed her arms across her chest, her mouth twisting into a sad smile. "It was nice meeting you...?" she offered helplessly. "But I just—I can't do this. I don't want to be—," she abruptly cut herself off. She didn't want to say it for fear of sounding too rude.

"Don't want to be what?" Klaus demanded, pushing himself off of the car. Caroline flinched but otherwise did not say anything. Klaus remained on the other side of the car, waiting. At least there was distance between them, she told herself. It wasn't going to dissolve into anything dangerous. He wouldn't hurt her. He wouldn't. Right?

Even after a long excruciating minute had passed, Klaus still seemed to be waiting. Caroline chewed the inside of her cheek, staring at the pavement. She didn't want to say it.

"Don't want to be what, Caroline?" Klaus asked again, his voice steel. Caroline looked up to see his face had lost its earlier warmth and softness. It was cold stone now.

"I can't save you," she whispered, finally. She felt sorry for saying it, but it felt important for him to know. She couldn't save him. She wasn't his messiah. She wasn't going to be his saving grace. His shit was a mess and she didn't want to get in it. She was sorry she felt that way because she knew it hurt him. But she wasn't sorry she put herself first.

All of the anger and darkness from Klaus's face vanished as a certain painful heartbreak began to descend upon him. His face drooped to his chin as his mouth lost its earlier tightness. He was all soft and sad and miserable; Caroline couldn't bear to look at him.

"I should go," she said, pressing her lips into a thin line. "I'm—I'm sorry Klaus. I am really thankful for what you did that day."

She waited for a second to see if Klaus would respond but he didn't. He merely got into his car and drove away. Caroline felt a bizarre sense of emptiness descend into the pit of her stomach, but she steeled herself. She couldn't get into Klaus's shit. She made the right choice.

* * *

When she finally made it to her lunch date, fifteen minutes late, she expected to see Tanya annoyed but was surprised when not only was she very cheerful but that she wasn't alone.

"Hey, Caroline!" she waved Caroline over, and immediately turned to the other person, whom Caroline hadn't taken a good look at, and said, "meet my friend Rebekah."

Caroline's smile immediately morphed into a confused/horrified grimace. "A pleasure, I'm sure," Rebekah smirked at Caroline, recognition immediately seeping into the former's eyes. "Oh, do play nice," she said at Caroline's continued grimace.

"H-how do you know each other?" Caroline finally asked after she had taken a seat next to Tanya. The latter looked at the two blonde girls with a raised eyebrow.

"How do _you _know each other?" she asked in return.

"We met at a party a couple of months ago," Rebekah said dismissively. "And to answer your question," she said looking at Caroline, "Tanya and I take the same class in my university. We became fast friends after one class."

"Yeah," Tanya said, heaving a sigh of relief, "She was the only white girl not offended when I pointed out the obvious racist dynamics in all of Tarantino's movies—which, can I just point out, did not go down well with the so-called indie cinema loving chumps? Oh, and I also pointed out that our syllabus was heavily whitewashed."

Caroline's eyes widened. She didn't know how to respond. Truth be told, she

wasn't very well versed when it was about sensitive things such as politics or race or religion. She would always happily keep her mouth shut and listen, for fear of saying something stupid or offensive.

"Yeah, the professor wasn't happy about that too," Rebekah smirked.

"Yeah, I think I may fail the class," Tanya's face suddenly fail. "But at least I made a point."

"Okay," Caroline said forcefully, "that's...interesting. I'm sorry you had that experience though. I wish I was also there as some support."

"Well, you _can _take the class if you want," Rebekah pointed out. "If it doesn't conflict with your schedule, that is."

Caroline felt herself caught in a trap; she probably looked like a deer in headlights. "Oh, uh, yeah," she sputtered, drawing out a laugh from the other two girls. "I _was_thinking of dropping today's class; it was so boring. I guess...I guess I could do it."

"You don't _have _to do it, Caroline. Rebekah's just messing with you," Tanya smiled at her sympathetically. She felt touched by her friends' kindness.

"No, I—I want to do it. I think it'll be fun," Caroline said suddenly, straightening up, "let's all take this class and show them motherfuckers!" She exclaimed, a little louder than she had intended, drawing disapproving looks from other people in the restaurant. Rebekah and Tanya exchanged a look before bursting out into laughter.

"Okay, I think it'll be fun," Tanya agreed. "So, remember to sign up by the end of the day, yeah?"

Caroline nodded and she suddenly found herself more hopeful for the semester. She didn't realize how much time she would end up spending with her roommate and Stefan's ex-girlfriend, and how easily she would forget about all of it, and they would become her closest friends.

* * *

Caroline was wary when she first stepped into Rebekah's flat. She expected Klaus to pop in any time. "He's not here," Rebekah said, dropping the keys of her car in the key holder near the entrance. She smirked when Caroline sputtered and claimed to not know what she was talking about. It had been a month since she had run into Klaus that day on the street, and she didn't want to have another run-in with him. Especially when she heard that Kol and him had gotten into a bar fight in the last week.

"You live alone here?" she heard Tanya ask as they all entered further into the well-furnished flat. "Being rich pays." Caroline nodded alongside Tanya.

"Yes, it does, and you're welcome to crash here whenever you want," Rebekah said with a shrug. Tanya gave her a lazy smile before going to plop down on the sofa. She took out her books and laid them out on the small coffee table in front of them.

"I think we've run out of soda and snacks. I'll go to the convenience store and get some. Anything else you guys want before we begin studying?"

"Nope, I'm good, I think," Caroline said, and Tanya also gave her a thumbs up.

"So," Caroline said. "What's with the awkward energy between the two of you?"

Tanya gave her a look of confusion before relenting. She "Ugh," the dark-haired girl groaned, "it's kind of awkward, because we're in the same postcolonial literature class. I could literally feel her shrink and become smaller and smaller."

It was Caroline's turn to look confused. "Because England colonized India...?" Tanya said slowly, like she was talking to someone stupid.

"Oh, yes," Caroline said, suddenly realizing. A bark of laughter burst forth from her before she could stop it; and soon she just couldn't stop laughing. "I'm sorry, it's just so silly. I mean can you just imagine _Rebekah_of all people shriveling and just shrinking of embarrassment, GOSH," Caroline said between laughing and gasping for air. Tanya rolled her eyes but let out a chuckle.

"It _was _hilarious," she admitted. The door suddenly opened, and the two girls looked up in surprise. It wasn't who they expected.

"Well, Rebekah, I would hope you would learn to lock your door one of these days," a voice said causing panic in both of them, especially Caroline, whose eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. It was Klaus.

"Oh, let it be, Nik, we both know nobody wants to enter the harpy's house," another voice said. Ah great, he wasn't alone. It was the other brother Caroline knew Rebekah had, but she couldn't remember his name. Tanya and Caroline exchanged an awkward look as they waited for the brothers to discover them. It was Klaus who first came into view and saw them. He had bags, of what looked like groceries, in his hands. His eyes went from alarmed to curious in the span of a second.

"Caroline?" he asked, confused. His younger brother, who was right behind him, stopped to see what the matter was.

"Ah, I remember you," he said with a smirk. Caroline shrunk further. "But what are you doing here?"

Both brothers waited for an answer while they went to the open kitchen to place the stuff they had bought on the counter.

"We're Rebekah's friends, we're just waiting for her to come back," Tanya finally spoke up. As if just seeing her, Klaus and Kol looked at her and then exchanged a look amongst themselves.

"Rebekah has friends?" Klaus asked.

"Female friends?" Kol asked, instead.

"And you are...?" Tanya asked, tired of all the bizarre rhetorical questions.

"We're Rebekah's brothers. Surely, she must have mentioned us," Kol said with a smirk on his face as he stalked towards them. Tanya only shrugged in response. "I'm Kol, and this grumpy one's called Niklaus."

"But you can call me Klaus," Klaus called out.

"I'm Tanya and she's—,"

"Caroline," Kol said with a glint in his eye, "we know."

Tanya raised her eyebrows and looked at Caroline questioningly. But the latter willfully ignored her friend. She was feeling extremely irritated and jumpy. She hadn't seen Klaus, not since their not so very friendly argument on the street, and here he was, acting like nothing was wrong between them. Or like there was nothing at all between them for him to be upset. Had he gotten over her already? Caroline scolded herself for being silly. There was nothing _to _get over. They spoke once. It was nice. But that was it. It bothered her; this blasé, uncaring Klaus. Or did he come here knowing she would be here...?

"What are you guys even doing here?" Caroline finally asked, unable to take it anymore. "Did you know...?" Caroline asked Klaus with narrowed suspicious eyes.

Klaus looked at her innocently before going back to the task at hand: organizing things into Rebekah's shelves and refrigerator. "We're just here to make sure our little sister wouldn't starve to death," Klaus said from behind the refrigerator. Caroline rolled her eyes. "And as for your insinuation, no I had no idea that you would be here."

"And what are you?" Kol asked, a smile curving his lips, leaning on the back of the sofa. "No, don't tell me, Spanish? Trinidadian? No, no wait, could it be an Indian beauty I'm speaking to?"

"Me no English," Tanya said, unamused. Caroline let out a snort. When she looked at Kol she found him smirking even more widely.

"I like this one," he announced to no one in particular as he stood up to go back to the kitchen area.

"I apologize for my brother. He's not used to meeting normal human beings," Klaus called out from where he was unwrapping the food and putting it in Rebekah's fridge. Were they really here just to stock Rebekah's kitchen? That was...sweet. "

Kol let out a bark of laughter at his brother's comment. "Speak for yourself. Anyway, what are you lovely ladies up to? Anything I could help with?" he said, coming to sit by the chair next to the sofa. Tanya glowered at him and purposefully ignored him, focusing on taking out books from her book bag.

"We're here to study with Rebekah," Caroline supplied. She earned a glare from Tanya which left her confused. Ah. She was not supposed to engage with the enemy. Too late now for Kol had snatched one of the books lying on the table in front of them and started rummaging through it.

"Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish," he said in a mocking sing-songy way. Caroline heard Tanya take a sharp intake of breath.

"Okay, enough of that," Tanya snapped, "give me the damn book."

"Well, love, that's no way to speak to someone, is it?" Kol said, flashing her a smile.

"Kol," they heard Klaus's voice call out. A warning. Kol rolled his eyes before handing Tanya the book. He took out his phone and started flipping through it impatiently. "boring, boring, boring," he muttered under his breath before throwing his phone on the table with a loud clang which startled both the girls.

"I'm bored, amuse me," he said to the both of them.

"Will you quit that before I knock your head off?" Caroline finally snapped. Kol raised his eyebrows but lifted his arms up in surrender.

"This one's feisty. Nik, now I understand—,"

"So what class are you studying for?" Klaus asked loudly, cutting his brother off. Caroline's cheeks turned pink from what Kol had almost said. So Kol knew that Klaus had a thing for her? The latter was still in the kitchen, and while Caroline wanted to look at him, she didn't want to seem like she was staring. So, she stared at the book in her hand.

"General Author Theory class," Tanya said. Now it was Caroline's turn to glower. Tanya gave her a bemused look. Ah, how the tables turn! She seemed to have piqued Klaus's interest.

"Ah, _The Second Sex_," Klaus said, plopping down next to Caroline, who gave him a startled look. She hadn't even heard him walk over. Damn, he was sneaky! "I remember reading this and having—,"

"Okay, really, I don't care Klaus," Caroline interrupted Klaus, moving a bit away from him to almost squeeze Tanya into the other end of the sofa. The latter girl let out a squeak but did not say anything otherwise. "We get it. You read. You think you're cool because of it," Caroline said.

He ignored her as he took the book from Caroline's hands and started going through it. "I haven't read this in so long," he said to no one in particular before he returned the book to her.

"And how have you been, Caroline? I feel like I forgot to ask," he said, smiling innocently, as if they were close friends, as if their proximity was normal. Caroline was suddenly struck by a realization. She realized that the Klaus she saw in the party was an exception. This was the real Klaus. Sneaky, charming but deceptive, and annoying; so very annoying. This was the Klaus everyone saw and knew. And she didn't even know him that well.

"I'm fine," she snapped. "So, how long are you going to be here for?" Caroline asked.

"I'm fine too, love, thanks for asking. And also, how long do you want me to stay for?"

"I wanted you gone, like, yesterday," Caroline said sweetly. Klaus let out a bark of laughter before getting up.

"Then your wish is my command," he said as he gave a mock-boy. "Come on, Kol," he said to the boy who was still intent on making conversation with Tanya, even though the latter was willfully ignoring him by holding a book right in front of her face. At Klaus's words, Kol got up.

"Well, so long ladies. Hope to see you again," Kol said, winking at Tanya whose only response was to show him the middle finger. Caroline let out a snort of laughter. "In due time, love," Kol promised making Tanya narrow her eyes in suspicion.

"Do tell my sister we dropped by," Klaus said, giving Caroline a long look before he exited the door with Kol trailing behind.

"And remember to lock your doors, or a big bad wolf will come and—," Kol said before bursting into a cackle. The door closed leaving behind an ominous silence.

"They're so weird," Tanya finally commented.

"They're so _annoying_," Caroline whined. "Where _is_Rebekah?"

"She'll be here in a minute, I'm sure," Tanya said dismissively. "Klaus is into you."

"No, he's not!" Caroline protested, but at Tanya's raised eyebrows she relented. "Yeah, okay, he is; into me, I mean. But I am not."

Tanya gave her a look of curiosity but instead of asking, she just nodded. "I understand," she said. "Anyway, let's focus on our assignment. Now, what do you think Simone De Beauvoir meant, when she said, I don't care about Klaus's stupid hot ass hitting on me because I'm a moron?"

Caroline, who had been looking at Tanya expectantly and with a look of pure concentration, rolled her eyes when Tanya finished speaking. "You're insufferable," she said, throwing a back pillow at Tanya.

The door opened causing both of them to freeze. They should really start locking doors around here. They both were relieved to find it was none other than Rebekah. "You're back!" Caroline exclaimed; her eyes fell to Rebekah's hands which were empty. She frowned. "Did you—," she began but couldn't complete because Rebekah let out a squeal of excitement.

"I have a date!" she exclaimed and immediately plopped into the chair Kol had occupied earlier. She had a dreamy, glassy look in her eyes.

"With whom? How?" Tanya asked, looking as excited as her friend.

"With Matt."

"The jock from your college?" Tanya raised her eyebrows. Caroline frowned. Who was this Matt and why hadn't _she_heard about him? At Caroline's expression, Tanya supplied. "He's blonde and blue-eyed and the definition of American jock; and he is also the person Rebekah has been low-key obsessed with since the beginning of college."

"Wait," Caroline shook her head. "But who is this guy?"

"Matt Donovan," Rebekah sighed. "He's the sweetest, dreamiest—,"

"Matt Donovan!?" Caroline exclaimed. Blond hair, blue eyes, jock, Donovan—this couldn't be...? "Matt Donovan from San Francisco?"

"Well, I don't know that." Rebekah looked displeased for having her thunder being stolen.

"I knew a Matt Donovan from when I was a kid and would go to visit my dad during the summers; he moved away from the neighborhood though and we lost touch. I wonder if this is the same..." Caroline trailed off, looking thoughtful.

"Yeah, well, whatever," Rebekah snapped, "he asked _me_out, outside when I ran into him on the street, so can we appreciate _that _for a moment?"

Caroline smiled sheepishly. "Of course, forgive me for hoping to reconnect with a childhood friend," she shot back good-naturedly, "do tell how it came to be."

"Well," Rebekah began, but stopped. Her eyes had landed on the kitchen counter where some of the extra food was still laid out on the counter. "Did—did my brothers come?"

"Yeah, they did," Tanya said with a snort. "This one and Klaus have a thing?"

"No, we do not!" Caroline sputtered, furiously. "How could you—,"

"I don't really know," Rebekah said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "She denies but I fear there might be something if she reacts so violently every time my brother is mentioned."

"I was thinking the same thing," Tanya nodded thoughtfully. Caroline stopped her protests realizing she was only furthering the girls' agenda.

"You guys are insufferable."

"Your brother is really hot," Tanya said dispassionately. Rebekah shot her a smile. "But Kol is disgusting."

"Did he hit on you?"

"Yep."

"He does that."

"I noticed." Tanya glanced at the counter. "But it was nice of them to come by to stock your kitchen. They do that often?"

Rebekah was now sporting a soft smile. "Yep," was all she said. It felt like there was more to the story, but it would be a long time before they heard it. For now, they were just happy discussing Matt Donovan and then getting back to studying.

* * *

It had been a month since she ran into Klaus, and two months into the semester. She had been spending a lot of time with Tanya and Rebekah, about which Bonnie, Elena and Stefan weren't entirely happy about, because Caroline seemed to have no time for them. They would often complain about that and while she would try to make up for it, she found she had more fun with Tanya and Rebekah, and also there was so much of studying to do! Of course, she didn't tell them about the parties and the drunk nights and days they would go on to.

"And, where were you?" Bonnie asked, when she came back to Bonnie and Elena's room. They all had decided to go to a party.

"Oh, I was with Rebekah and Tanya, studying," Caroline lied. They had just been hanging out at Rebekah's place, getting high on weed before Caroline realized how late she was.

There was a sudden silence that made Caroline nervous. She looked up to see her best friends had stopped what they were doing; almost freezing mid-air.

"Caroline, why were you with her? Aren't your classes almost over for the semester?" Elena asked seriously. As if Caroline had lost her mind or something. Bonnie was sporting the same grave expression. Uh-oh.

"I like her...," Caroline said, almost carefully. She did not want to upset her friends or get in a tiff with them. When Bonnie and Elena continued to give her an incredulous look she said again, "I think she's nice."

"She torched Stefan's car."

"Because he cheated on her," Caroline protested.

"That's not a reason to torch someone's _car_! There's no good enough reason to torch someone's car!"

"Oh, really? Well, what if Batman had done it after he had lost his parents? Do you think that was a good enough reason? Or what if Speed had done it?"

"Okay, really, you need to stop binge watching DC Comics shows on Netflix, and second, it's not Speed, it's _Flash _and THIRD," Bonnie broke off to take in a huge breath of air before continuing with her rant, "I can't believe you're trying to compare Rebekah with Batman or the Flash. I mean, she's not a superhero."

"She _could _be."

"Yeah, I guess she could," Bonnie said scathingly, "she's got the money and she's white."

Caroline bowed her head guiltily. "Ugh, the DC and Marvel universe is so racist. Did you hear about the whole Scarlet Johansson thing?"

"Don't try to change the topic," Bonnie said, "but seriously, is it because—," she broke off suddenly, shooting a nervous glance towards Elena. The latter seemed to have understood something for she decided to take the reins of the conversation.

"Are you seeing Klaus secretly?" Elena asked.

Caroline blinked. And then she burst out into a laugh. "Have you lost your mind? Why would I date him?"

Bonnie and Elena just shrugged in response. "We just thought you might...," Bonnie trailed off. "But I'm glad to know that's not happening."

"Yeah, not after everything you guys told me," Caroline said, her earlier smile fading into something morose now, "and I remember seeing him once myself; drunk and loud and angry and fighting with someone over something so stupid." She stared at something in the distance.

It had been at the beginning of the semester. Before Caroline had run into Klaus and after Stefan and everyone else had told her about all of the horrible things Klaus was infamous for. Because even after she had heard her friends out, she had nursed a hope that they had all misunderstood him; he couldn't be that bad. He had been the only one to show her kindness that day when everything had appeared so cold and dead.

It had been the first night out and she had decided to meet Elena, Bonnie and Stefan for drinks at the bar outside campus. That's when she had spotted Klaus. He didn't know she was there. She wanted to go up to him and say hello when she saw that not only was he drunk he wasn't in a very good mood. He was starting a brawl—or perhaps it was started by the other person—Caroline wasn't sure, but she was sure of the very real horror and fear that seeped into her when she saw Klaus's face morph into something monstrous and him pull his fist back and punch the living daylights of the other guy. She felt her breath caught in her throat; she couldn't breathe. She needed to get out.

She remembered leaving the bar, feeling shaken and scared, as she barely collapsed into a park bench outside. It had reminded her of Damon; of things she didn't need to be reminded of, did not wish to be reminded of. That's how her friends had found her that night. Crying and shaken. She hadn't told them any reason, just insisted to be taken back to her dorm.

That's what had convinced her to stay away from Klaus. Not her friends, but Klaus himself.

* * *

"Caroline," someone called her name, causing her stop. She knew who it was without turning. She was in the local bar outside campus on a double date-thing with Rebekah and Matt, and his friend Tyler. She had only just met him, but he seemed fun, exciting and _new_. Things were going well, and she had excused herself to go to the bathroom when she heard someone call her.

"Klaus," she said, her face softening at his smile. "What are you doing here?"

He was dressed in a dark full-sleeved shirt, holding his jacket in his hand.

"What does anyone do at a pub, love?" He flashed her a smile. "I haven't seen you in a while. You look well." He gave her an appraising look. Caroline suddenly regretted wearing the yellow thin-strapped top which left her neck bare, because she was sure a blush was creeping up. The way Klaus looked at her was...she had felt her stomach clench.

"Thanks," she said, almost begrudgingly. "You look okay, too, I guess," she said dismissively, making Klaus laugh. "Are you here with Kol?"

Klaus shrugged. "No, but he will be here soon." Caroline wondered secretly if he were also on a date. He didn't look like he'd have trouble with the ladies. But to think of it, she hadn't really seen Klaus with a woman. Hm. She tried not to preen. She did have that effect on people, didn't she? "How are your classes going?" Klaus asked before she could leave. Caroline shot him an indecipherable look. She didn't understand his curiosity about her life, about stupid things like her classes. Nobody asked her how her classes went; hell, _she _never asked how someone's classes went. But Klaus here looked genuinely interested.

"They're fine," she allowed herself to say. "How are your classes going? I haven't been hearing good things about you around the campus." Last week she had heard a rumor that someone in the Art History department had gotten into an (almost?) physical fight with one of the professors. Although nobody named him, everyone knew it was Klaus.

Klaus seemed unabashed. "I see someone's been keeping tabs on me."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "You wish." She regarded him critically. "Why do you need to do these things? Why can't you just _be normal_?" She groaned aloud.

"You know I'd never hurt you." He looked serious. Caroline looked away, uncomfortable. She didn't like the fact that he _knew _that the problem was she was _scared _of him. She remembered him from when he had gotten into that fight in the bar. He had scared her so much. He didn't know she had seen him like that. She couldn't forget the look of reckless violence and rage on his face that day. It made her shudder. "Caroline," he said softly. Her head snapped up to look at him; he seemed apologetic and concerned.

"I should go," she said quietly. Klaus nodded.

"Is that Rebekah I spot there?" he said, glancing behind her. She saw Rebekah and Matt were still engrossed in a deep conversation, like they were before she had left them. They had been dating for a month now and things seemed to be going good except for a few stray fights. She saw Klaus's face darken when he spotted Matt next to her. "Ah, I see the jock is there too."

Caroline frowned. "Matt's a good guy," she said defensively. Klaus raised an eyebrow but did not comment.

"And who is that other charming fellow who can't seem to take his eyes off of us?" Klaus asked, almost wickedly. Gosh, he was so dramatic! But nevertheless, Caroline's eyes wandered to where Tyler was sitting in the booth, talking to Matt and Rebekah, while his eyes kept glancing back to look at Caroline. She gave him a nervous reassuring smile before turning back to look at Klaus. The earlier discomfort and heaviness between them had disappeared now. She had to almost bite her lip to stop the smug smile spreading on her face as she said the following words.

"That's my date, actually."

Klaus's smirk turned into a forced tight smile. "Ah, is he now?" he asked, his jaw clenching.

"Yup," Caroline said, popping the 'p' really hard, before turning to shoot a smile at Tyler again. He seemed to relax in his seat because he went back to the conversation with Matt.

"Well, I wish you a very pleasant evening," Klaus said evenly.

"Thank you, you too," Caroline said, fake sweetly. "I hope Kol isn't too late. I don't really want you to be all alone."

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm sure I can find ways to occupy myself," he let his eyes roam around the bar with a predatory look in his face; Caroline followed his gaze and found a couple of women in the bar looking interested and throwing curious looks their way. Ugh, he wasn't _that _good looking. They were clearly drunk. Her annoyance must have shown because of what Klaus chose to say next.

"I'm not the jealous sort, love," Klaus winked at her. "But something tells me, you are." Caroline barely managed to fix her expression; she felt it very unfair to be caught off guard and judged so harshly. She was _not _jealous. She didn't even care.

She rolled her eyes, but Klaus didn't see it because he had already turned his back to her, making his way across the bar to some silly—okay, very attractive—woman. Caroline suppressed an annoyed groan as she made her way back to the table. Her friends and Tyler looked at her expectantly. She did take a lot of time.

"Who were you talking with, back there?" Tyler asked, not looking entirely happy. Caroline tried not to frown at that.

"Was that Nik you were speaking to?" Rebekah asked. Tyler shot her an annoyed look which Caroline did not miss.

"Um," she said, as she sat down next to Tyler, already a little uncomfortable, "yes, it was Nik. It's Rebekah's brother." She said the latter part turning to Tyler who relaxed a little. Matt, on the other hand, did not look pleased.

"Klaus," he muttered. Caroline raised an eyebrow. What had Klaus done to Matt? She had been so glad to run into Matt and realizing that it was indeed the Matt she knew as a kid. He was still the pure-hearted person she knew as a child. She wondered what beef he had with Klaus. But then, most people had a beef with Klaus.

"What's wrong?" Caroline asked. Rebekah only shrugged, as if she was already privy to all the details and did not care. When Caroline gave her a continuous look of questioning, she relented and said, "Nik got into a fight with one of Matt's players."

"Why?" Caroline asked at the same time Tyler said, "wait, it's _him_? He's the one who beat up Ray?"

Matt nodded, while Tyler's frown got deeper. "What was the fight about?" she asked.

Rebekah shrugged, her face darkening. She didn't like talking about her brothers or their fights. Perhaps it felt like she was betraying them. "I don't know, why don't I call him over so we can all find out?" she snapped, probably annoyed that everyone was hounding her for answers/dirt on her brothers. Matt rubbed her arm soothingly.

"Never mind," he said gently. "Let's talk about something else, yeah?"

Caroline nodded eagerly, though she was very curious about the fight. What did the Mikaelsons brothers keep getting into fights for? Nobody knew; and the people who did, were always so tight lipped about it.

* * *

"Why have you been avoiding us?" Caroline asked, crossing her arms across her chest, defensively. She was sitting in her dorm room with Tanya sitting across from her on her bed. It had been weeks since she had spoken to Tanya or even _saw _her, seeing as the latter would always come late at night and leave before Caroline could wake up.

Caroline wondered what had gone wrong; had she said something bad? Why was it that all of her friends always left her? All sorts of thoughts were driving her crazy. It was only when she spoke with Rebekah that she realized that Tanya had been avoiding her too. So, Caroline had taken it upon herself to stay up till Tanya came home—she came around 3am—to have this conversation. It was late, and both of them were tired but it was a conversation to be had.

"I have not—," Tanya began but Caroline quickly cut her off with a quick, "oh, cut the bullshit. And just come on out with it." She could feel her throat close up and tears sting her eyes. She hated fights or awkward situations with friends. She couldn't take being in such situations anymore. Why weren't people simple and easy? Why did they all need to push her away?

"Caroline," Tanya said quietly, "you're—you're insensitive to race a lot of times too."

Caroline's eyes widened with embarrassment. Tanya looked apologetic and embarrassed too. "But I—," she began but stopped when Tanya shook her head.

"Just—just hear me out. I know you try your best but it's—it's not enough. That day at Rebekah's house when we first ran into her brothers...the way her brother Kol behaved with me. That was racist, Caroline. And it just bothered me how it didn't bother you. And then, you keep complaining about Klaus getting away with violence because he's rich, but that's not all he is, Caroline. He's also white. With increasing gun violence against black people—against black _children_and how much leeway Klaus gets, how do you not realize this? I _want _to see Klaus's ass in jail at least once; and his brother's. But they always get away." Tanya shrugged, staring at her hands in her lap. "Do you think someone brown or black would? Do you think I would?" She pursed her lips, refusing to look at Caroline.

Caroline, who had been listening to her friend with growing dread, could feel her face was on fire. She was so embarrassed. "Tanya, I'm sorry, I—I sometimes don't realize things. And that's my fault, my white privilege but I do appreciate you telling me things. I'm sorry for the Kol thing, and I agree you about Klaus. I just—I never saw it. I never realized...it was connected to race." She felt her voice crack. She didn't think she was that bad, or that she was ignorant. It was painful to admit to herself, to her friend, that she wasn't all that perfect or knowledgeable. "But I would really be grateful to you if you could always tell me when I go wrong. I promise to always be receptive and try and grow." She thought these were the right words to say but apparently not because Tanya looked like she was Done. Pursing her lips and a small frown on her face, Tanya said, "Caroline, you don't want to be Klaus savior, and I don't want to be yours. I am not your racial sensitivity teacher."

Caroline felt wronged. Why was Tanya dragging in Klaus? That was mean. "Well, I don't know what to do here, where to go and how to learn?"

"Your burden of learning doesn't fall on _me_, Caroline. You need to find your own answers." Caroline was about to say something more, to argue, to defend herself, but she stopped when Tanya got up suddenly. "I'll leave you to think about things before this gets any more serious and either of us says things we might regret."

Caroline didn't say anything or stop her when her friend left. She just kept staring at her hands. Great. Now things were awkward with her _roommate_. How the hell was she to get out of this one? She hated herself for the cold calculative thoughts that had just pervaded her mind, but she couldn't help it—no, she could, she told herself. She had to train herself to be more kind, compassionate, and more present. She sighed. It was an exhausting day and the conversation did not make things easier. She lay down on her bed already missing her friend.

* * *

The semester is almost ending, and Caroline is on edge; she has assignments and exams to tend to; not to mention the fact that Lexi will be visiting the following weekend and Caroline wants to be able to keep her company too. She calls Lexi to make sure she got her schedule correct.

"Hey," Caroline says, "you free to talk?"

"Yeah, what's up?" Caroline can hear the sleep in her voice. Had she just woken up? It was almost 1 in the afternoon!

"Were you sleeping? Gosh, Lexi!" Caroline said in an admonishing tone.

"I know, I know," Lexi muttered. "I'm excited to see you. I hope it's a bit of a less drama than last time."

"Oh yeah," Caroline said trying not to feel hurt or annoyed that Lexi referred to the events that unfolded at Stefan's birthday party as 'drama'. "I'm sorry for my meltdown," she said sarcastically.

"Oh, no, no, no," Lexi said immediately, "that's not what I was talking about. I meant about when Klaus beat Damon up." Lexi yawned loudly into the phone. Caroline didn't even flinch. In fact, she could swear she felt the world stop for a minute; her mind had blanked out.

"What?" she asked, trying to keep her voice light. Lexi seemed to have not picked up on her mood, probably because she had just woken up, for which Caroline was suddenly grateful, because she was more than willing to spill the beans.

"Yeah, Klaus beat Damon's ass up, didn't you know?" Lexi said. She seemed to be outside for Caroline could hear the honking of cars and people randomly shouting or calling out to each other. She let Lexi's words sink in.

Caroline licked her lips slowly, surprised. "No, I didn't—I didn't know that. When was this?"

"This was on Stefan's birthday."

"Oh, well, I didn't know." A pause. "No one...no one told me," Caroline said disbelief coloring her. Why the hell didn't anybody tell her? How did they think it was okay to not tell her about this?

There was silence on the other end of the line, save for the noise of the street. "Oh, I didn't know that...You know what? Forget I said anything!" Lexi said. She seemed to be panicking. Of course. Stefan and the rest of the Mystic Falls gang seemed to have forgotten her that this was going to be kept a secret from Caroline. And now that the jig was up and was let out by none other than Lexi, she was panicking about the backlash she might face.

"Okay...," Caroline said slowly. She looked at her watch. It was seven in the evening on a Tuesday; she wondered where Klaus would be at this point. "I'll—I'll call you back." She had half a mind to hunt him down and ask him what the hell he thought he was doing; but the other half of her mind protested against taking any big measures. So, she decided seeking Rebekah out was the best option.

It was a surprise—or was it? —that when she went to Rebekah's flat, she found Klaus sitting in the living room, with his sketch book in his lap, drawing something with great concentration. Rebekah seemed to be found nowhere. She wasn't responding to texts, either.

"Caroline," Klaus said, smiling, before going back to his work. Caroline—who had been prepared with a series of vitriol—suddenly felt all the words die in her throat. He looked so warm and kind, so at peace; Caroline was reminded of the first time she had met him and felt a pang of tenderness in her heart.

"How did you know?" She asked, quietly. Klaus didn't look up from where he was busily sketching something.

"Know what?" he asked.

"About Damon."

His hand paused for a second before it resumed its previous motions; the scratching sound on the paper returning. Caroline wondered if he really was that calm and collected as he seemed right now.

"I don't know what you mean, love."

Caroline huffed. Really? He wanted to play this game, now? "Okay, then, answer this: you beat him up. Why?" Caroline asked, walking to stand in front of him.

"For my personal enjoyment," Klaus said easily.

"Liar," Caroline said. Klaus shrugged, continuing with his sketching. Caroline tried to take a peek at his drawing, but it remained hidden from view.

"You didn't need to do it for me, you know. I'm not some damsel in distress you need to rescue," Caroline's voice increased in decibel without her realizing. She had been really frustrated about this, more than she had initially realized. Klaus's hand stopped and Caroline was relieved to get a reaction out of him. He finally looked up at her.

"I didn't," he said, his expression grave. "I didn't do it because I thought you were a damsel in distress. I did it because you were—are—a friend."

"You only knew me for a day!" Caroline protested.

"Yes," he admitted, "but I knew your—," he broke off suddenly causing Caroline to frown. What did he know about her? Had he already known about her and Damon from before? Had he been pretending to be oblivious about it during their first meeting just for kicks?

"You knew what? You knew about Damon and me?" Caroline demanded.

"No," Klaus said forcefully, "I knew your—," he paused, and then, as if with great difficulty, he said, "—your pain. It wasn't new to me."

A second passed by. And another. And another. Caroline stared at him. Knew her pain? That was the cheesiest and most stupid thing she had ever heard in her life.

"What do you even _mean_by that?" She exclaimed, annoyed.

"I mean," Klaus said, finally putting his notepad away with a sigh, "I was you when I was younger. I saw...I had the same thing with my...stepfather. He wasn't very kind to me. And I was helpless. But now I am not." His eyes burned into Caroline's, forcing her to look away. She felt tired again. She took a seat next to him on the sofa.

"I...," Caroline began but stopped. "I didn't know you had a difficult childhood."

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Caroline," Klaus said bitterly. "If you weren't always so convinced you loathed me and chose every opportunity to accuse me of one thing or another, then you may have noticed I am a very different person from the one you make up in your head."

Caroline gave him a look of disbelief and then anger. "Oh, shut up! I gave you plenty of chances. If _you _didn't take it upon you to make my business yours, _or _go around acting like a tyrant, beating up people—,"

"Do you even have anything new to taunt me with, or is it going to be the same old things?" Klaus roared, slamming his sketchbook on the floor, standing up. Caroline mimicked him.

"Why don't _you _tell me? You seem to be stuck in your petty old ways, like an attention seeking child so intent on destroying things when he doesn't get his way—,"

"Ha! Now she calls me a child! And what are you? For someone with claims on maturity you seem pretty susceptible to your friends' manipulations. Do tell me how much you think for yourself and how much you allow your friends to do the thinking for!"

"I am _not_gullible! I make my own decisions and that must really piss you off. To know that I don't like you just because I don't like you! And not because of my _friends_," Caroline huffed; she could feel her face was hot from all the shouting and the anger that was still roaring under her skin.

"This doesn't seem like not liking me, love. Following me around, texting me, looking out for me, asking about me to Rebekah," Klaus taunted her, an evil smirk curving his lips. His voice dropped a decibel when he said, "I think someone's obsessed with me."

Caroline felt her cheeks heat up even more. "_I'm _obsessed with _you_?" She let out a bark of laughter. "Are you insane? Stop projecting your fears and desires onto me. We both know _you_'re obsessed with me! You _wish_I was obsessed; you wish I cared! But I don't! I really don't care! And that hurts you!"

Her words were meant to rile Klaus up further, to destroy him, to hurt him, but he only gave her a knowing look. "I'm sure that's what you tell yourself every day." He picked up the sketchbook he had thrown on the floor and sat down on the sofa again. "But it isn't working, love. And it sure as hell isn't fooling anyone." He said the words as if he were merely stating the most mundane of facts. That pissed the hell out of Caroline, but she knew their argument had reached its peak. She had nothing to say so she chose to storm out in an acceptable fashion, banging the door as loudly as she could.


	4. Chapter 4

**Present **

"Well, hello there," Klaus said, as his door swung open to find a disheveled Caroline standing in front of him. She looked tired.

"I called you on your phone," she said. "You didn't answer." Klaus raised an eyebrow. Was this an explanation of sorts for what she was doing at his place in the middle of the night? After that night she had spent with him—sleeping—she had sneaked out before he had woken up. He thought he would see less of her and had almost resigned himself to that fact but here she was. At his door.

"Ah, my phone is in the other room," he offered, letting her in. She ignored his remark as she walked in, threw her bag on the couch, before she made a beeline to Klaus's room and flopped down on his bed.

"I had a long day," she announced, as if to no one in particular. Klaus leaned against the door, regarding her. She did look very exhausted with shadows underneath her eyes, her hair disheveled.

"And how am I to be of help to you?" he asked, amused.

"I don't know," she said, taking one of his pillows and snuggling against it. She gave him a serious look which made his heart clench. He cleared his throat, trying to maintain composure. He didn't want her to know how much she affected him.

"I'm actually surprised to see you here," Klaus remarked as he sat on the bed, "after running out on me that morning—," when Caroline tried to protest, he waved her off, "I assumed you wouldn't wish to see me again."

"I didn't mean to run out...," she said in a small voice, closing her eyes. "I was figuring out things." Klaus reached out and carefully brushed some of her hair off her face.

"And what did you figure out?"

"Not a lot," she admitted. Klaus's eyes bored into Caroline's. "I want to be here," she said, as if to herself before moving back to make space for him. Klaus smiled as he lay down beside her.

"Well, I shall not be one to force you out of here," he said as he took her hand and pressed her fingers against his mouth. She was so soft. He felt Caroline watching him carefully; and a finger against her pulse let him know her heart had started beating faster. He bit the inside of his cheek to stop him from smirking. He affected her as much she affected him. "How was your day?" he asked.

* * *

Caroline closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "It was...," she searched for a word, trying not to think of everything that happened, "exhausting."

"And you hoped I could alleviate some of your stress?" he smirked.

"Yes, I did," Caroline said.

"Then I shall not disappoint," Klaus said as he sat up, towering over her.

Klaus dragged her by her ankles and let out a breath. Caroline felt her mouth go dry and her stomach churn with anticipation. She didn't like being looked at like this, but she also really liked it; she was waiting for when the music would stop, and Klaus would snap out of whatever it was he felt for her. His feelings for her were never a secret, and thus made Caroline more nervous. Would he feel differently now that they would have sex? Were the rose-tinted glasses going to come off and Klaus was going to look at her like she bored him, like she wasn't the most interesting person he had ever met? She enjoyed the way he looked at her now, but it also made her nervous because it made her think of when it would end. She looked away from him, feeling a stab of sadness overcome her. Tyler had looked at her like that initially before it faded; hell, it faded for her too. And with others before, it always faded. When was it going to fade with them?

"Everything alright, love?" Caroline heard Klaus ask. Her head snapped back to him and let a lazy smile overcome her face. Might as well enjoy things while they last.

"Yes," she beamed, hooking her legs around his waist pulling him over herself.

"I hate talking during sex," she said, in a matter-of-fact way. Klaus gave her a funny look before he chuckled. Tyler used to talk during sex a lot. She hated it, but she didn't know how to tell him. It wasn't even dirty talk. It was more of...how his day went and him asking how her day went; in hindsight, one might say it was sweet, but Caroline really did not enjoy it. She preferred Klaus knew it now than later.

"Noted," he said as he slid his arms along her legs to cup her bum and pulling her flush against him. "Any other requests?"

"None I can think of at the moment," Caroline breathed out as she caught his face in her hands and kissed him fully on the lips. She felt her body shiver with excitement. She had been waiting so long for this.

She kissed Klaus languorously and felt him kiss her back with equal enthusiasm and languor. She felt nervous; there was something each wanted to prove to the other, and she worried if the expectations would not be too much for either of them to match up to. She felt her thoughts short-circuit when Klaus's hands lazily slid across her jeans and pull them down her legs—when had he unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans?—before discarding them at the foot of the bed. Caroline's breath hitched when Klaus—ugh, why did he need to do that, it was too much—looked at her before sliding his fingers along the length of her leg and stopped at her knickers. Caroline felt mad with lust. She didn't like this slow bullshit. She needed him _now, _hard and fast. So, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

She pulled his face up to meet hers' and with another hand, took off her panties to throw them across the room. She could feel the rumble of laughter go through Klaus at her impatience. "What are you laughing about?" she growled.

"I would tell you, but you hate talking during sex, so," he kissed her jaw and neck, but Caroline pushed him away.

"Tickles too much," she explained. Klaus raised his eyebrows but did not protest; he instead ran a finger along her neck and watched as she shivered. He lowered his mouth to her chest, where it was still covered with her shirt and bit her left breast through it. Caroline let out a gasp of shock at that, a giggle escaping her throat. Klaus slipped a hand underneath her shirt to press her against himself as he captured her lips in another kiss. His hands roamed all along her back, unhooking her bra in the process, and helping her out of her shirt. They broke apart to let Caroline shrug her shirt off. Klaus pulled away from Caroline's arms which had stretched out for him, to take a moment to look at her. Caroline felt self-conscious suddenly but tried to hold her ground.

"Caroline," Klaus said solemnly, almost, "you're lovely."

Caroline rolled her eyes but let a smile sneak onto her face. "Shut up and take off your clothes," she said. Klaus grinned as he took his shirt off. She saw all of the necklaces hanging off of his neck, hidden from view most of the time, and the tattoos along his ribs and chest and collarbone. She reached out a finger to trace everything but felt herself lost to lust when Klaus slipped a hand along her thigh to her clitoris and rub it. She took hold of Klaus's face again and kissed him roughly. Exploration could wait, she thought to herself, there were things to be done before that. Klaus's fingers rub her relentlessly and she loses herself into the feeling. Her tongue tracing Klaus's lips, his mouth, inside of his mouth; a whine escaped her as Klaus pulled away from her. He didn't deign to answer her as his mouth traced her neck—_it's ticklish!—_before quickly moving on to her chest but Caroline pushed his face away.

"No," she said, offering no other explanation. She felt Klaus's eyes burn with curiosity but was glad when he didn't say anything before going further.

Caroline's insides clenched with anticipation for what was to come next. She felt Klaus's arms come up to her thighs to spread to her legs apart. A pause. And then she felt a jolt run through her as she felt Klaus's tongue on her clitoris—she was really happy he had been able to find out. With other sexual partners, sometimes they would struggle, and it would lead to some very awkward back-seat driving kind of situation.

As Klaus continued to work his mouth into her, she reached out to run her fingers through his curls. She felt the heat from his mouth drive her mad with need, her body arched as a jolt of pleasure ran through her. His mouth, and teeth, latched onto her clitoris and—_suck—_Caroline felt stars explode behind her eyes from the combination of pain and pleasure. Klaus eased his hold on her clitoris and Caroline felt him insert a finger inside of her and she wanted to tell him penetration wasn't very arousing for her, and neither did it help her orgasm, but she let him please her in whatever way possible. She didn't entirely hate it; it was an experience on its own. Klaus's fingers inside of her.

Those long spidery things—and of course, though she had always been averse to spiders, she had been mesmerized by his long fingers, at length, pun intended. They had often caught her imagination; waving down someone, sketching, reaching to touch her, just holding something. They were always so long and beautiful. And now they were inside of her, touching her, pleasuring her. She could feel her body hum happily.

Another jolt of pleasure went through her. It was taking too much time to make her come. Was he tired? Did he want to stuff? Caroline would always be troubled with these thoughts and she would usually stop her partners in the middle. And thus, not breaking with tradition, Caroline reached out to grab Klaus to pull him up, but he stayed down, ignoring her. Caroline raised her eyebrows, low-key impressed. Well, if he wanted to feast, she would not stop him. After a minute or two, Caroline could finally feel the pressure build up within her and she felt her body arch as the orgasm washed over her. She felt Klaus lazily kiss her vagina, her clitoris as she rode out her orgasm. She watched with hooded eyes as Klaus watched her with a smile. She reached her arms out to pull him into a kiss. He kissed her roughly, causing Caroline to tremble with want again.

Caroline watched him as he pulled away to reach into the small cupboard next to the bed and pull out a condom. Caroline found herself sitting up to kiss him again, even as Klaus pulled the condom down on his penis. When he was done, he took Caroline's face in between his hands—causing Caroline's heart to stop beating for a second, almost—and _look _at her, really look; not in a I-will-fuck-you-good kind of way, but more like a—like a—like something Caroline couldn't understand or comprehend or verbalize, just _feel_. She suddenly felt full with...feeling. When Klaus crushed his lips to hers, she let her mind give into the desire again.

When Klaus pushed into her slowly she let out a gasp and clenched her eyes shut. She could feel Klaus's breath on her shoulder where he buried her face; she put her arms around him and scraped her nails across his back. She immediately feels his body shiver and Klaus soon picks up his pace. Caroline pushes back, meeting him, beat for beat. Although she knows she will not come from penetration, (she hasn't come through penetration ever) she wants to be there for him; make this enjoyable for him. She liked the closeness of penetrative sex, of feeling his body inside of her. She felt so close to Klaus; they were separate but one at the same moment. When she feels him shudder against her, she holds him close. She missed the closeness of a person and held him close to her, tighter.

When Klaus is spent, he pulls away from her but not before smacking sloppy kisses along her face and neck, making her giggle. He pulls her close to himself and she is surprised by how cuddly he is. She was used to not reaching out to her partners or holding them; but this was different. Klaus was different. His body presses against hers and she pulls a sheet over them. Her last thoughts, before sleep overtakes her, is that she hopes Klaus doesn't ask about not doing boob stuff. She doesn't like it. She doesn't like the feeling. If he asked, she'd tell him so; tell him she hadn't liked it for a long time, and she didn't want to talk about it. And shrug like it's no big deal. She didn't want to tell him what it was about; when it began. She didn't want to get into it now or ever.

* * *

Caroline liked the casual brushes of tenderness, the warmth always spreading through her body when Klaus would casually reach for her or drop her a distracted smile when he would be busy with something else. More often than not he would cook for her; let her eat off of his plate, and even do her laundry sometimes when she was feeling too tired or overworked. Turns out he did Rebekah's laundry too for the most part. Who knew? Who knew Klaus was this sweet and tender and ... warm?

"You're making me fat," Caroline said, taking an enormous bite of the cheesy lasagna. They were sitting on the couch, with Caroline lying down with her ankles in Klaus's lap. She was eating the lasagna he had cooked for her while he sat reading a book.

At Caroline's words, Klaus looked up from his book and gave her a distracted smile. He reached out to brush something off of the corner of her mouth with his thumb and put it in his own mouth. Caroline looked away, her stomach clenching. She hated it when he was so... it was difficult to stop herself from feeling things for him. Caroline was afraid of getting hurt. She didn't want to love Klaus. She was scared he would fall of out lo—whatever it was that he felt for her, and then...then she would be heartbroken and alone. She didn't like that idea, so she always reigned her feelings in; put them on a tight leash.

"You're fine," she heard him say dismissively. He rubbed her ankles soothingly before going back to his book.

"Klaus," she said, putting the plate of lasagna down on the floor, and pressing her foot into his chest.

"Hmm?" he asked, not looking away from his book. What was the stupid book anyway? Why was it more interesting than her? Caroline felt herself nudge Klaus's face with her toe, from where it was buried into the book. He finally deigned to look at her.

"Yes, love?"

"What are you doing?"

He gave her an exasperated look. "I am reading a book."

"I don't want you to read the book."

He raised an eyebrow, amused. "What do you wish I do?"

"Give me your attention."

He chuckled. "Alright, then," he put his book on the coffee table in front of them, before turning to her, "you have my attention. What do you want to do?"

Caroline thought for a moment. "Do you believe in ghosts?" she asked. Klaus chuckled.

"Really? That's what you want to talk about?"

"Yes," Caroline said, looking very serious. "Oh my god, did you see that the government admitted that UFO video from 2015 was ACTUALLY a UFO? So that means there _are _aliens!?"

"So now we're on aliens?"

"Klaus!" Caroline whined. "I need you to be serious."

"I _am_ serious, love. Are we speaking about ghosts or aliens, I'm confused?"

"Aliens. We're talking about aliens right now."

"Hmm," he hummed, as he crawled up her body, causing her smile as she opened her legs for him to settle between them. "I think everything is possible; ghosts, aliens, vampires, werewolves, what have you." Caroline beamed at him widely. Her eyes closed in pleasure as Klaus kissed her jaw and breasts. He slid his hands inside her shirt to pull her up against him. "I think there's magic in the world; and it is so much bigger and beautiful than all of us." Caroline opened her eyes, feeling Klaus's words wash over her. She felt a sense of calm overtake her.

"Tell me about your tattoos," she said, as she pulled his shirt over his head. Klaus shook his head.

"Not today," he said. When Caroline pouted at his answer, Klaus covered her lips with his' and soon they were lost in each other's bodies.

* * *

Caroline had decided it was time to tell Elena and Bonnie about Klaus. They had been seeing each other for two months and her friends were getting suspicious. But first, Caroline started with Bonnie, who was surprisingly very calm and unsurprised about the whole thing. "It was going to happen one day," she said almost cryptically. "I mean, I would see the way you both would look at each other." Caroline had frowned at her friends' comment but hadn't said anything. Had she liked Klaus before she herself had realized it? Had her feelings for Klaus been so apparent to everyone but herself?

She had told herself she would think about these questions at a later time; for now, she wanted Klaus and Bonnie to get to know each other better. She needed a friend on her side when she broke the news to Elena and Stefan. She knew they would be furious.

Caroline decided that the best way for Bonnie and Klaus to bond would be with alcohol: meaning, a party. A friend of a friend was having a party for something at their house and Caroline saw it the perfect occasion to have her boyfriend—she still cringed at the word—and friend to bond. But things weren't going very well, because when Bonnie and Caroline arrived, they saw Klaus was speaking to another girl and apparently that meant a lot of bad things to Bonnie.

"Are you guys together?" Bonnie asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because you're here and he's there."

Caroline glanced at Klaus, who was talking to girl, and laughing with her. It was normal. This was normal behavior. Your boyfriend was allowed to talk and laugh with another girl at a party. Caroline didn't think it was necessary for them to be joined at the hip just because they were dating. But she felt insecurity stir in her stomach and a frown work its way to her face. She licked her lips nervously.

"Yes, but I don't think it's important for us to be together all the time," she said, her voice small, sounding lame even to herself. Bonnie gave her a critical look.

"Your boyfriend is ten feet away from you flirting with another girl."

"No, he isn't flirting!" Caroline protested. "He's just talking. Surely, he's allowed to!"

Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "That's not what it looks like." Caroline saw as her friend's frown deepened. She followed Bonnie's line of sight and saw the girl was touching Klaus's arm and he looked _okay _with it honestly. Caroline turned away, unable to take it anymore. It wasn't a big deal. It really wasn't.

Just because they were dating didn't mean that they had to be together every second, and if he wanted to talk to people and maybe _flirt_, that was also okay. Caroline flirted all the time with everyone—to get her way, or sometimes just for fun. It wasn't something serious. But having her friend here judging every move Klaus and she made, made it worse; made her think it was wrong.

Caroline didn't want to, but doubt crept into her. What if it wasn't harmless flirting? What if Klaus really wanted that girl? What if he wanted to sleep with her? Was he over Caroline already? Did he not know Bonnie was going to be here, so the why the hell was he acting like that? Why couldn't he be the doting obsessive boyfriend for two minutes?

Feeling Bonnie's eyes bore into her back, Caroline felt she needed to do something. Before she realized, she was stomping her way to Klaus. He seemed to have sensed someone approaching, for he looked away from the girl—the stupid, moronic girl—to see who it was His face softened and a sweet smile stretched his lips as he extended an arm out as he saw it was Caroline. Caroline felt all of her doubts dissipate, her insecurities wither away, as Klaus wound an arm around her waist and pulled her flush against himself.

"This is Caroline," he said, turning to the girl with whom he had been speaking to all the while. The tall raven-haired girl looked at Caroline brightly and gave her a kind smile. "When did you get here?"

"Oh, a minute ago," Caroline said before turning to the girl expectantly.

"Hi, I'm Claire," the girl introduced herself. "Klaus was just telling me about you." When Caroline raised an eyebrow, the girl hastily explained, "I'm writing a paper on abjection in the post-capitalist feminist literature and Klaus suggested I speak with you, seeing as you took Professor Rowena's class."

"Ah," Caroline said, after a moment of gathering her thoughts. "Well, that sounds like an interesting paper." Okay, the girl wasn't a moron at all. And the way she was smiling at Caroline without a hint of irony or malice also convinced her that she was in fact a good person. Caroline felt a little guilty for judging the girl too harshly. Her sour mood lightened but she was in no mood to play teacher to this girl at the moment.

"I would love to help in any way I can. But tonight, I'm really planning on getting sloshed so," Caroline took out her phone, "I don't think I'd be much help tonight. But I'd love to meet up for a coffee or something?" She could feel Klaus's gaze on her; although she had said the words with a cheerful candor, there was an undertone of iciness she was sure he had picked up on. Good. His hand on her waist tightened. Caroline watched as Claire's smile lost its earlier brightness, but she nodded politely and readily exchanged her contact information with the former.

"I guess I'll see you around," Caroline said, forcing a smile, a tone of finality to her voice, leaving Claire no choice but to bid them goodbye and leave. And that's how it's done, ladies, Caroline thought to herself smugly. When she turned to Klaus however, her expression dimmed. He was frowning.

"What was that about?" he asked, removing his hand from her waist.

"What?" Caroline blinked, trying to look innocent. It didn't work, for Klaus gave her an exasperated look.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, love. You were harsh with her."

"Says the guy who goes around beating people," Caroline scoffed, crossing her arms underneath her breast in a way to distract Klaus. While his gaze did flicker to her chest, he otherwise looked unimpressed.

"I see you're feeling nostalgic, seeing as you have resorted to your old insults," he said bitingly; his face had lost all of its earlier softness. "Anything else you would like to add?"

Caroline looked away, her gaze unintentionally landing on Bonnie, who had been watching her—and Klaus—all this while. She looked away quickly, not wanting Klaus to see Bonnie. They were hardly on speaking terms. This would do no good, she thought. Because she knew Klaus would know why she was acting this way. But alas, her hopes were in vain for Klaus had immediately caught onto the change in her expression.

"Why are we even fighting over someone we don't know?" Caroline reasoned, suddenly finding herself at a loss for a better comeback. A cruel smirk twisted his face making Caroline almost flinch.

"I think we're fighting over someone else entirely," Klaus said, jerking head in the direction where Caroline knew Bonnie was standing. Klaus didn't look away from Caroline's face, while the latter's eyes slowly dragged along the floor. "Did your friend Bonnie goad you into this?"

She felt like a child being admonished and hated it. "She didn't do anything. You were flirting with that girl. I saw you." She looked at Klaus again, who again, looked unabashed,

"I was merely having a conversation. But I forgot," he paused as if for effect—Caroline rolled her eyes—before he said, with a smirk, "you're the jealous type."

Caroline scoffed. "I am _not_," she protested.

"So, you agree it was your friend whose comments, no doubt, made you act the way you did?"

"Really? We're going to talk about how I act in public. Compared to your track record?"

"Touché," Klaus said. "So, what did your friend Bonnie say?" he said, bringing the conversation back to the original topic. Ugh, he was unrelenting. Of course, he was. He was _Klaus_. "That I'm going to cheat on you because I was laughing with a girl?"

"Flirting," Caroline corrected.

"Oh, come off it, already. We both know you flirt with the entire world," Klaus said, looking frustrated. Caroline frowned. She didn't know he knew that.

"So, you do admit you were flirting," she said, feeling delighted that she now had the upper hand. But also feeling really shitty. This was supposed to be a fun party with her and Klaus and all of her friends. But here she was—ten minutes into the party—and already fighting with Klaus, and kind of really hating Bonnie for having gotten into her head. The realization that Bonnie got into her head struck her hard. Of course.

It wasn't new news, but it still felt very jarring now that she turned it in her head. What was she doing? Fighting with Klaus over something Bonnie said because Bonnie knew Klaus? She didn't even know Klaus's name was Niklaus. More importantly, she didn't know about the relationship between Klaus and Caroline. She had no right coming in here, judging Caroline, Klaus and their relationship. So, what if both of them were a little flirty? And, so what if it didn't meet Bonnie's approval? To hell with her. But why the hell was Caroline fighting with Klaus here?

Caroline looked at Klaus who was glaring at her.

"Everything is going fine until one of your old friends shows up. Is this how it is always going to be?" Klaus asked, bitterly.

"I'm sorry," Caroline said, despite herself. She saw Klaus's face change at her apology. "I won't—I'll try not to let her—them—get into my head again. I'm sorry." She took Klaus's hand and put it against her waist again, where it lay only minutes ago. She stepped closer to him to look up at him. "I'll try," she said, as she reached onto her tip toes to press her mouth lightly against Klaus's. The latter remained unmoved, except for the arm around Caroline's waist which remained firmly in its place.

"Let's go say hi to your friend," Klaus said, his face devoid of any emotion, but at least his voice did not have its earlier bitterness, so Caroline took it as win. She looked at him warily though, at his suggestion. He really wanted to go see Bonnie right now...? But Klaus did not wait for her to response for he was already making his way to Bonnie.

"Hello Bonnie," Caroline heard him say politely as she trailed after him. She saw Bonnie gave him a polite but cold smile.

"Hi Klaus. How have you been?"

"Good, thank you. And you?"

Caroline felt nauseated at the cold polite conversation taking place between them. But hey, it was progress from no conversation. Why did she think this would work again? Because it was a party with alcohol. The party was here, but where was the alcohol? Caroline's eyes roamed the living room which was thrumming with dancing people until they landed on the bar.

"Why don't you guys wait here till I get alcohol?"

"Allow me," Klaus said, looking eager to get away. "What do you want?" he asked both the girls.

"I'm okay with a beer," Bonnie said. Caroline nodded, "Same for me."

Klaus nodded before making his way through the crowd to get them the drinks they needed. "Okay, now you guys looked like a couple," Bonnie said, causing a spark of irritation in Caroline. But the latter didn't say anything, choosing to remain quiet. She didn't want to fight with her friend. She spotted Tanya coming in and waved her in. Caroline felt a wave of relief wash over her.

"Tanya!" she squealed as she hugged her best friend. "I'm so glad you're here," she whispered into her best friend's ear. Tanya squeezed her back but gave her a look of concern. Tanya didn't say anything though, especially once she spotted Bonnie behind Caroline.

"Hi," Tanya greeted Bonnie politely, who returned the greeting. Caroline mused at the coldness between the two; as soon as Klaus was back, Caroline felt her shoulders slump with relief. Great, the coldness between her two friends had begun to feel unbearable. As soon as Klaus spotted Tanya, she could see relief overcome him. Caroline almost snorted.

"Tanya!" he exclaimed, _happy_. Tanya's eyes also brightened up. "Klaus!" she said, as she wound her arms around Klaus in greeting. Caroline saw her boyfriend reach over to hand Bonnie and Caroline their drinks before winding an arm around Tanya. Caroline felt her heart warm. Why couldn't Bonnie and Klaus be like this? Her eyes landed on a Bonnie who was viewing the scene critically. She felt her heart lurch.

"I see you missed me. I missed you too, love," he remarked smarmily. "But I'm afraid I've been kept occupied by someone." He jutted his chin in Caroline's direction. Tanya rolled her eyes as Caroline grinned at them.

"I'm glad to see you have kept up with your cheesy ways," Tanya teased. She soon eyed their drinks and said, "I want to get a drink too."

"Allow me to fetch one for you." Klaus turned to go, but Tanya stopped him.

"Aw, that's alright. I'll get myself one, thanks," she said but Klaus followed her anyway when Caroline gave him a look of concern. There were a lot of drunk dudes at the party here, and Tanya was only 4 feet 11. She didn't want her to go unaccompanied; but also. with Bonnie tugging her elbow, she knew she couldn't follow her out. So, she shot a pleading look towards Klaus who thankfully understood her meaning and nodded before following her best friend. Caroline felt a pang of affection rush through her.

"Hey, what was that about?" Bonnie said, as soon as the two left their sight.

"What was that?" Caroline asked, confused.

"That thing between the two of them—you're not telling me that's normal?"

Caroline blinked. "What do you mean?"

"They were flirting right in front of you!"

Caroline's eyes widened. "They're friends. They've been friends since before Klaus and I got together. They always spoke to each other that way."

Bonnie shot her an unconvinced look. "Alright, but it doesn't look very _friendly_ to me."

Caroline felt another pang of irritation rush through her. She turned to her friend, annoyed. She had had enough. "You know what, Bonnie?" she said, her voice reaching a high decibel, "you've been judging me, and Klaus and now _Tanya _since you've come here. And I'm getting really tired of it. Can you get off your high horse and just shut up for once?"

Bonnie's eyes widened and Caroline waited for the onslaught of vitriol but was surprised when Bonnie only bit her lip and looked at the floor, as if ashamed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that... I just want you to be happy."

Caroline pursed her lips, frowning. "I understand that," Caroline said softly. "But you need to give Klaus a chance. And Tanya."

Bonnie nodded and looked up at Caroline with a smile. "I will. I'm sorry. I'll keep an open mind."

"Thank you," Caroline said, a smile breaking out on her own face. "I'm glad to hear that."

When Klaus and Tanya came back, Caroline was glad to see that Bonnie made an effort to talk to them. Soon Kol gatecrashed the party with his friends and he was flirting with Tanya—annoying her.

There was this bizarre comradery and friendship that had grown between the Tanya and Kol. It mostly consisted of Tanya shouting at him or insulting him, but Kol never seemed to find offense. Instead, he did the decent thing and _actually _listened to her. Caroline had been a little impressed but tried not to give too much credit to Kol just for acting like a decent human being.

"Is there something going on between the two of them?" Caroline heard Bonnie ask, to which the former just shrugged. Bonnie was soon distracted when she found a boy, she liked from one of her classes. She told Caroline she would be going off with him to spend some time and Caroline nodded happily. She kind of liked the way things were going and was okay with Bonnie leaving. Caroline had been growing nervous with each passing second that Bonnie was going to say something upsetting, or she would, and it would all go to hell. It was best when things ended on a high or a mid-level note.

"Do you want to go home, love?" Klaus asked, leaning in. Caroline glanced at Tanya who had been standing beside them when Klaus had posed the question.

"Do you?" she asked her best friend who nodded.

"I do too," a thoroughly sloshed Kol said, wounding his arms around Tanya's neck, who surprisingly did not push him away. Caroline raised an eyebrow but did not comment at the way Tanya was actually supporting Kol's weight. She stored the information to later interrogate her best friend.

They were soon off to Klaus's place where they found Marcel sitting in the living with his girlfriend Leila.

"Where are you guys coming from?" he asked as Kol fell into his arms. "Hurt?" Marcel asked, immediately, a look of concern over his face. Caroline was struck by that, for some reason. Of course, Klaus and Kol were always getting into fights, and Marcel must have been the one who would clean up after them all this time.

"No, just drunk," Klaus said, waving off his friends' concerns. "Hi Leila," he said, patting the girl on the shoulder, while the latter saluted in return. Caroline exchanged a polite smile with the girl while she made a beeline to Klaus's room, with Tanya in tow.

"I really need to pee," she told Tanya as she went into Klaus's bathroom. "I know, I do too!" her best friend called out. When Caroline was done peeing, Tanya went in. She saw Klaus come into the room, dragging a mattress in.

"Don't worry, love, I'll make sure to be the gentleman and sleep on it," he said before Caroline said anything. The former felt a rush of affection in her chest. She wound her arms around his waist and reached up to kiss him on mouth.

"You're wonderful," she sighed as she pulled away. She knew Tanya would be out soon. Klaus leaned down to plant a kiss on her lips before dragging in the mattress further.

"I'll get some sheets," he said, simply, as he went out again. Tanya came out and seeing the mattress, raised an eyebrow at Caroline.

"I could just crash on the couch," she said, rubbing her arm, awkwardly.

"Don't be silly, the mattress isn't for you. It's for Klaus," Caroline grinned as she flopped onto the bed. "You're sleeping on the bed, with me." Tanya's eyes widened as a grin stretched over her face.

"I like Klaus. You should keep him." She said with a giggle. Caroline let out a giggle of her own.

"We'll see about that."

"Bonnie seemed nice." Tanya said after a while. Caroline shot her a look.

"She is...," Caroline trailed off. "She's not that bad," she said finally. Tanya nodded, understandingly, as she lay down next to Caroline. Caroline pulled the sheets over them.

"I miss our sleepovers," Caroline said, pulling her best friend close. Tanya smiled against her. "Me too." And after a while she said, "let's have one when Rebekah's back from Mystic Falls."

Rebekah had gone to visit her parents suddenly in the middle of the semester for a week. Klaus and Kol remained mum on the reasons, and so had Rebekah. Tanya and Caroline had tried not to feel bad at the way they would sometimes feel excluded from the Mikaelson family's secrets, their lives. Family above all. Caroline could feel the same things resonate in Tanya's thoughts at the moment. She reached out to rub her friend's arm in a comforting manner. Tanya smiled but didn't say anything.

Klaus came in with sheets which he started spreading over his mattress.

"You guys ready to sleep?" he asked. Caroline looked at Tanya who shrugged and said, "I'm okay with lying awake and talking for a bit." Caroline nodded at Klaus. "Same," she said.

"So, what did you think about Bonnie tonight?" Caroline asked, as Klaus neared the bed and settled himself near the edge of the bed. He sprawled across the bed and propped his head on an arm, as Tanya and Caroline tucked their feet underneath themselves. Before Klaus could answer, the door suddenly swung open, startling them. It was Kol

"Are you all having a midnight slumber party slash slumber talk while I'm banished to the couch in the living room?" he grumbled as he made his way to the bed only to be stopped by Klaus kicking him in the abdomen lightly and violent protests from the girls.

"Banished from the bed, I see, never-mind, I shall colonize the mattress,"

"Like your ancestors," Tanya muttered, inciting a giggle from Caroline and a chuckle from Klaus.

"What was that, sweetheart? You want me to come up there and lie next to you?" Kol asked, stopping midway to turn to look at her. Tanya gave him the middle finger.

"Not around company, surely," he teased. Tanya ignored him, going back to look at Klaus expectantly. He blinked, confused before realization dawned on him.

"Ah, Bonnie. I hate Caroline's friends," Klaus said in a matter-of-fact way.

"Hey!" Tanya protested.

"Not you, love," Klaus said, shooting her a smirk. "I'm talking about those parasites she brought from home."

Tanya shrugged, understandingly, while Caroline's frown deepened. "Hey!" she smacked Klaus's arm. "That's mean."

"Okay, let's not talk about Bonnie," Tanya said, winking at Klaus. Caroline rolled her eyes at the both of them. They were so childish. Honestly, Bonnie wasn't that bad. "How's Rebekah?" Tanya asked instead. Soon Kol, who was sitting on the mattress, his head visible, and Klaus's expression became somber.

"Yes, how is she? I haven't heard from her in a week," Caroline said, pulling her knees against herself.

"She's good. She'll be back soon," Klaus said cryptically. Tanya and Caroline knew better than to push.

"That's good to hear," Tanya said, trying to keep the mood light. Their conversations spanned other light topics before they called it a night. Kol was kicked out of the room, while Klaus returned to his place on the mattress.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: Short and sweet, more coming up, but just wanted to upload this small teaser. Haha. Hope you enjoy it. Thank you for all of your kind words of encouragement.

* * *

They say you don't really know someone till it's summer break. Well, no one said that, but someone really should, Caroline thought. During the semester she would be so busy that she could only see Klaus twice or thrice a week, and only for a couple of hours. She didn't mind it, and neither did he. They both had stuff they wanted to get done, and Caroline was thankful for it. There more important things in life than just dating.

But now that she had all of this free time on her hands because of the summer break, she spent a lot of time with Klaus and noticed things she hadn't before. For one: he smoked a lot. Like, dude needed a cigarette after every meal, after every hour, after anything stressful or happy event, after sex (and therefore a lot) and sometimes, just for funsies. Caroline couldn't find a polite decibel or vocabulary to tell him to stop smoking, at least around her, because she felt herself being choked out of the kindness and politeness.

"Your hands smell like cigarettes, and your mouth tastes like cigarettes, _your body smells like cigarettes_. And oh my god, I'm just one more cigarette simile away from writing an emo Tumblr poem. So, can you _please _stop smoking so much, at least around me? Or can't you just go outside to smoke?"

"I have to go smoke outside of my own house, now?"

"Everybody goes outside to smoke, Klaus. That's how you don't choke on your own breath."

"If you have a problem, love, I suggest you leave. Nobody has asked you to move in with me."

Caroline narrowed her eyes at Klaus's comment. She hadn't "moved in"—as he so conveniently put it—with him. She had _deigned _to spend a night at his place after him begging and writhing in front of her for not doing so all these months. She had finally allowed herself enough leeway to stay the night for the last couple of days, and lo, behold, he throws it in her face during an argument. How had she not seen this coming?

"Of course," Caroline muttered. "I forgot whom I was speaking to."

"Yes, well, I suggest you don't." Klaus took another drag of his cigarette and leaned forward to blow it _in her face_. Caroline's eyes widened in shock and anger. She immediately slapped his hand, slapping the cigarette too, causing it to land on the floor. She got up to crush it underneath her foot. All the while, Klaus remained watching her, motionless, an amused smile working its way to his mouth.

"You do know I'm rich and can afford a lot of these?" he pointed out; an eyebrow raised elegantly.

"You're such a fucking asshole, Klaus," she said tersely as she really tried not to burst into tears and slam his face into the ground—that _was_ Klaus's power move, wasn't it, when he was beating people up? Slam their face to the ground or any surface available?

Caroline did not wait for Klaus to say anything. She got up and started gathering her books and laptop, wanting to leave immediately. When she turned to collect her bag from the sofa where it lay only a moment ago, she saw that it was in Klaus's lap now. He raised an eyebrow in challenge. Caroline shot him a hateful look before reaching for the bag in his lap, but Klaus immediately took the bag and placed it out of her reach, dangling it off of the sofa in mid-air.

"Give me my bag, Klaus."

"No," he said coolly, stuffing her bag behind his back.

"I want to leave," she said, angrily. She could feel her face and neck heat up with the anger.

"I don't want you to leave." He had the audacity to _shrug_. That piece of—

Caroline gave him a look of incredulity. "Are you for real—if you didn't want me to leave, then why were you—are you—being such an asshole?"

"I was merely pointing out the ridiculous logic in asking me to leave my own home to do something _I _want to do and _like _to do in the comfort of my own home."

"Then I shall make myself sparse," Caroline said in a British accent, mocking him. The corner of his mouth twitched, further riling up Caroline.

"You know, your accent _has _gotten better."

Caroline gave him a dirty look. This was _not _going to distract her. They were _not _going to start making out and forget this argument ever happened.

"Well, then enjoy as I say _goodbye_ in your stupid accent." Caroline reached for her back only to have it be placed far from her reach.

"I don't like the fact that you walk out every time we argue," Klaus said evenly, his eyes narrowing.

"Well, I'm sorry," Caroline said in a mocking tone, not at all sorry, "but I cannot stand the sight of you, or the thought of being in the same room when you are being insufferable!"

Klaus pulled her onto his lap, forcing a gasp of shock of out her. "Have you lost your fucking mind?" she cried, struggling to get up from his lap, but he held her there, wounding both of his arms around her. "Let me up," she said, stilling his grip, realizing her efforts were in vain. She felt him press his face against her back, his nose nuzzling her arm at the elbow, right above his own hands which held her prisoner.

"I'd rather not, I am enjoying this. We should do this often."

"What? Us fighting and you manhandling me?"

"No, just holding each other," Klaus said, and Caroline could feel him _freeze_ underneath her as soon as the words were said. She could feel him become rigid and felt it reflect in her own body which had gone stiff. They didn't talk about touchy-feely stuff. Ever. They were too cool for such things. Rebekah and Tanya would call them a 'pair of fuckboys with feelings' to describe their 'relationship'.

When Caroline made an effort to get up, she felt Klaus make no effort to stop her. She felt disappointment wash over her, and then surprise. Had she wanted Klaus to stop her? Standing up she looked at Klaus's face which was withdrawn and shut, his hands already reaching for the book he had abandoned some time ago.

Caroline bit her lip. She didn't like this awkwardness. And truth be told she didn't mind...the closeness either. It was warm and tender. And they _were _always close and tender. And she did like it. So, despite and against better judgement, she said, "I—," she began but abruptly stopped. Klaus's eyes fluttered to hers', eyebrows drawn together, and forehead wrinkled. She swallowed before continuing, "I quite... like the closeness too." When she finished, she felt as if she were out of breath.

Klaus didn't say anything, but she saw his face soften. Feeling encouraged by his reaction, Caroline confidently plucked the book from his hands and settled back into his lap. She felt Klaus's hands slowly, carefully, come up to her, as she felt his face press into her side. Caroline lifted the arm where he had pressed his face into, to pull him closer. She felt him eagerly press his face into her chest. "You're so soft—," Klaus began before his mouth pressed open-mouth kisses against her clothed breast, and before she knew it, she was tugging his face closer to hers', he was pushing her against the sofa, and she was now tugging his shirt over his head and damn, ah, fuck, they were having sex again. Caroline groaned at the back of her head. She really had not seen this fight go down like this. She felt herself eating her words when Klaus did indeed proceed to go down on her, and she felt, well, if this was the going down that had been awaiting her, she could not find reason to be morose.

* * *

After they had had an entire afternoon fucking—Caroline hated the words 'making love', what were they in, a lame Nicholas Cage movie? (She had once said the same thing to Tanya when she had proposed one evening that the words 'making love' should be banned. Tanya had looked confused for a moment before she asked if Caroline meant Nicholas _Sparks_. But Tanya wasn't here to correct her so her internal rant of course referred to Nicholas Cage.)—they decided to get dinner outside for once. Caroline felt she was going to lose her mind staying inside any longer.

During dinner, she decided to tell Klaus she had recently decided on changing her major from Event Management to Gender Studies. Klaus' reaction wasn't what she had expected.

"You're changing your Major? Really?" Klaus asked, taking a sip of his drink. Caroline narrowed her eyes at his tone.

"What does that mean?"

"I just mean it's weird that I have never heard you speak about gender."

"I—I what? What does that have to do with anything?"

"I thought that's what you're going to study."

Caroline gave him an unamused look. "You know what I mean. I mean, what does _me_ not talking about something to _you _have anything to do with what I like and what I don't like. So, if I don't talk to you every second about how I love oxygen, does it mean that I don't like breathing?"

Klaus's jaw tightened. "You know that's not what I mean. Why do you have to twist everything I say?"

"Why do _you _need to always be condescending and patronizing?"

Klaus scoffed at her words. They should really not be dining outside anymore if they were going to fight every time, he mused idly before saying, "I am not being patronizing. I am merely suggesting that I had never heard you mention your interest in gender studies."

"Okay, fine. And?" Caroline asked, impatiently.

"And it seems this idea has sprung from the decision two of your other friends have been making about their major."

Realization dawned on Caroline and her face set in stone. "So, you didn't mean to be patronizing but you merely only just meant to suggest that I cannot think for myself?"

"It wouldn't be the first time I've seen you be swayed by the opinion of others." He was talking about the time when Caroline had left the judgment of the mystic falls gang overcloud her own judgement of Klaus. She knew he was talking about that. "I just think you should think about what you want before making any hasty decisions."

A look of disbelief and annoyance overcame her as she said, "are you going to mansplain my plans for myself to _me_?" Caroline put her knife and fork down as calmly as she could, which was not very calmly, and very loudly indeed. She could feel the started looks she drew when the cutlery clanked loudly against her plate. But she did not care enough to apologize to strangers at the moment. Her boyfriend had accused her of a very serious crime: of not having a personality of her own. "You know what, I don't want to deal with you right now."

"Of course, walk away, love, like you always do, when things get tough." Klaus immediately regretted his words. He didn't mean to say that. He really didn't. But there was this surge of bitterness in him and he couldn't stop himself. He regretted it because that's what Caroline always said to him and he had told himself that when things got heated between them, he would try and be calmer, instead of stoking the fires. But now he had given her more than enough arsenal for the entire evening to be spent fighting.

Caroline's eyes widened and she slumped back into her chair from where she had half-stood up to leave, aggressively as she prepared to whisper-shout at him for accusing her of the very thing he was always guilty about.

"That's rich coming from you. You're the one who always leaves and runs away—,"

"—well, I'm here now, so—"

"—and I get up _once_ and you throw it in my face like this—"

"—I think we should just discuss things like adults. And I am not _throwing it in your face_,"

"—do you even know the number of times you have gotten up?"

"I am merely pointing it out so that the next time you don't forget it that you also did the same—"

"—I mean I have the exact number! Do you want me to tell—"

"So next time you can't feign amnesia and realize we both are the same. No, I don't want the number. Very kind of you. I do hope you're making a note of your almost running away and filing it away in your precious cabinet too."

"Well, I would if I had run away but I didn't so."

"So, I'm sure you remain flawless and perfect as always," Klaus scoffed, taking a long sip of his drink.

"Precisely."

"Well, that's a relief. Perfect Little Caroline Forbes."

"I'm not little. You must have confused me with your—,"

"I have a perfectly big—,"

"—EGO."

"—PENIS!" Klaus roared.

Silence.

The whole restaurant had gone silence as their argument had reached an incredible crescendo and Klaus had screamed out what he had.

Caroline's eyes widened at what Klaus had said and the latter's face, red and blue with anger suddenly overcame with shock and realization that Caroline had indeed been talking about anything but his dick. They both could feel disapproving stares from people, but both remain frozen, unable to look away from each other, because that would mean actually dealing with the problem. And Caroline tried to bite her lip to stop herself, but she couldn't help it when a snort of laughter escaped her. She wondered how long they were going to pretend nothing happened. Lucky for them, they didn't have to deal with it without assistance for long. The manager came in right away and kicked them out promptly.

Caroline couldn't wait till they were out as she clutched her stomach laughing as they made their way to the car. Klaus looked amused but he didn't join her in. He seemed rather embarrassed.

"Will we ever have a conversation where we don't end up arguing?" Klaus asked as Caroline was just wiping tears as she got into the car. The tone of Klaus' voice made something clench in her stomach with trepidation. There was a seriousness in his question she had not anticipated.

"Why does it matter?" She asked, frowning.

"Are you saying it doesn't?" Klaus asked, his hands on the wheel as they both sat in the car the silence filling the space between them. Caroline wondered if Klaus wouldn't need to drive. If the silence that sat so heavy and buoyant between them could perhaps float them to somewhere.

"I don't know," she finally admitted after a long stretch of quiet. The car had not moved an inch. They were staying on the ground, she realized, forever. She had to swallow really hard before she said, "I know." Pause. "You're right."

She cleared her throat grateful that Klaus didn't say anything or interrupt her or touch her. He let her get it out. "I do...do that. I don't know how or why. I didn't even realize it...or maybe I did, and I just didn't want to accept it. But is it so wrong? I am still discovering what I like and what I don't. I want to study this now, and I still have time till I need to really declare my major, so why can't I just try this?"

"Maybe, I just want to borrow stuff from other people...to try and understand what is for me, and what is not me. Is that so bad?"

Klaus shook his head; he gave her a half smile. "I just don't want you to lose yourself."

Caroline gave him an unfathomable look. She didn't want to tell him that she didn't even know herself. So, what was there to lose? And why did he think that he knew her better than herself? That something was going to be lost at all, when he didn't even realize there was nothing to be gained?

"Can we go home?" Caroline asked, looking out the window. She felt Klaus' heart clench. Knowing he hadn't said the right thing, he was probably torturing himself. Caroline turned her head to give him a half-smile, before reaching out to squeeze his hand. Klaus returned the smile and pressed her hand to his mouth.

He started the car.


End file.
